An exhibition currently running at National Portrait Gallery features Michael Jackson-inspired art, with Mark Ryden‘s cover for the 1991 record “Dangerous” prominently featured. But it’s not just the original painting: Ryden crafted an entirely new work, “The King of Pop,” to house the piece.
In the video above, Ryden says that Jackson appeared to him in a dream, suggesting a new frame needed for the work. “So I set to designing a better frame,” Ryden says. “I had to design something of great exuberance and magnitude that didn’t overwhelm my original painting. I wanted it to be detailed and beautiful but not distract from the art it surrounded. I tried to design the frame to echo the painting’s lines, shapes, and rhythms … ”
“Michael Jackson: On the Wall” runs until Oct. 21 at the space.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkfdqWHF6Rw/?hl=en&taken-by=markryden
There’s both an absorbing and a grotesque quality to the paintings of 
