Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Leszek Kostuj’s Storybook Like Paintings of Otherworldly Characters

Polish artist Leszek Kostuj paints fanciful worlds populated by otherworldly creatures. There is something playful, childlike, and naive about his work, with its simplified forms and friendly-looking characters. Throughout Kostuj's multi-dimentional compositions, his characters' eyes grab viewers' attention. He paints them in profile, evoking Ancient Egyptian wall paintings. The round, marble-like pupils draw us into his strange, storybook-like universe.

Polish artist Leszek Kostuj paints fanciful worlds populated by otherworldly creatures. There is something playful, childlike, and naive about his work, with its simplified forms and friendly-looking characters. Throughout Kostuj’s multi-dimentional compositions, his characters’ eyes grab viewers’ attention. He paints them in profile, evoking Ancient Egyptian wall paintings. The round, marble-like pupils draw us into his strange, storybook-like universe.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
In the simplest terms, San Francisco-based painter Emilio Villalba creates portraits. Yet, these works are crafted at a crossroads of two influences, as cited by the artist: master works and the human condition. As a traditional portrait can captivate with the subject’s eyes, your own gaze must adjust first to the distorted points of entry in works like “Disorder,” above. In a past artistic statement, Villalba says his work is what happens when “the familiar is fractured and distorted by outside influence.”
Anders Gjennestad’s illusionary painted public art often features his signature, monochromatic characters scaling structures across the globe. The artist uses shadows with his figures to play with depth, whether on eroding buildings or adorning newly constructed offices in Norway, Germany, and beyond. The artist’s practice also includes humanscale, gallery-based work.
Bob Dob's punk rock roots still shine through the artist's paintings, including these recent pieces. Works like “Golden Punk God Made of Clay,” with a statue inspired by Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge and the band’s ongoing influence. Elsewhere in the painting, the work shows "various mischief and local South Bay culture and folklore," the artist says. Dob is featured in the Hi-Fructose Collected 3 Box Set.
Jamian Juliano-Villani, known for stirring acrylic paintings packed with dark humor and sprawling references, offers new works in a show at Massimo De Carlo London titled "Let's Kill Nicole." She offers both new paintings and sculptures in the display, which runs through Sept. 21. Juliano-Villani's work is known for pulling in a variety of familiar imagery from fashion, illustration, and other industries, with conversations emerging over what constitutes referencing versus appropriation. “Everything is a reference,” she’s insisted.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List