the art lair - Horrorphile

Horrorphile

follow this blog

543 followers

4960 daily readers

rank of 1

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

the art lair - Horrorphile

THE ART LAIR - XI ~ Joshua Hoffine

October 19th 2009 00:41

My good cinephile buddy Oscar (who hosts the excellent Sci Fi TV website) gave me the severed heads up on the superb site of artist Joshua Hoffine, a brilliant photographer who stages elaborate horror tableaux; actors (well, family members) on sets, special effects make-up, props, etc. The photos are vivid, highly stylised nightmares, many of which pull from childrens' fairy tales and the stuff of classic bad dreams.

There’s a beauty within the grotesque framework and this is exactly what Hoffine is out to achieve; “I want my photos to be pretty so that you’ll look at them longer … I believe the horror story is ultimately concerned with the imminence and randomness of death, and the implication that there is no certainty of existence. The experience of horror resides resides with this confrontation with uncertainty. Horror tells us that out belief in security is delusional, and that the monsters are all around us.”

He maintains an extensive “behind the scenes” blog on his site, and coincidentally I discovered a recent entry where he describes the process of shooting his “Elizabeth Bathory” photograph which was exhibited at the recent Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto. He also makes jewelry (only three pieces currently available). Photographic prints are available for purchase through his website.

Check out his website and complete portfolio here

Vote

Comments (10)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - X ~ Succubi ~ Salacious Demons

May 22nd 2009 02:09

MATURE CONTENT

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - X ~ Succubi ~ Sexy Beasts

May 22nd 2009 01:51

Succubi are the seductresses from Hell; diabolical temptresses spawned from Lilith, the mother of all demons. The word succubus was first coined in 1387 and was derived from Latin succuba meaning "strumpet", but also to describe a supernatural being. It is also gleaned from the word succubure, which means to “to lie under”.

Wikipedia relates a story about “a man in the town of Koblenz, who has been bewitched by a succubus, with whom he is forced to repeatedly fornicate, whilst in the presence of his wife. The story goes on to say that after an incredible number of such bouts, the poor man at last sinks to the floor utterly exhausted and disgusted beyond belief.”

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or “Witches' Hammer”, written by Heinrich Kramer in 1486, a succubus would collect semen from the men she slept with, which incubi would then use to impregnate women, thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children in spite of the traditional belief that demons were incapable of reproduction.

This group of images is the “Gothic”, slightly more phantasmogorical selection. One of my works-in-progress is a feature screenplay that involves a powerful succubus. I describe the tale as an erotic nightmare, and it’s certainly not for the squeamish or prudish, that’s for sure! I like to use these images for thematic inspiration and arousal, heh, heh.

The Seduction of Lilith by Boris Vallejo

Vote

Comments (4)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - X ~ Succubi ~ Dark Angels

May 22nd 2009 01:17

It’s been eight months since the last Art Lair post. But out of the wilderness I present a triple-whammy for the tenth exhibition: three posts all on the same subject: the succubus, or succubi (plural), one of my favourite mythological figures.

The succubus is a female demon. The male counterpart is known as an incubus. European Medieval folklore describes the succubus as a demon in the form of a beautiful woman who seduces men in their dreams, having sexual intercourse and drawing the man’s energy for their own power, often to the point where he becomes utterly exhausted, sometimes dying

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (7)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - IX

September 23rd 2008 23:59

Well, I’ll be damned! I missed my monthly descent into The Art Lair. There was no August selection, I’m afraid. The horror! The horror! Lock me in the iron maiden and throw away the key! No! Wait a minute! Not that you were probably aware of the absence, but hey, what does it matter? These bones ain’t goin’ nowhere …

So, keeping the marrow to the point, here’s a selection of fantastic drawings as white as bone and as black as midnight on a moonless night … but with a hint of crimson, ‘cos that’s the kind of twisted person I am, heh heh heh … and you relish it, I know, I know
[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (3)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - VIII

July 21st 2008 02:26

I’ve had a long hard weekend. I am walking shell of man. I am in dire need of vegetable soup and mineral water. I am incapable of writing an informed and witty movie review. All I can post is something slowly emerging from the Darkness, primordial sludge, like the foul stuff oozing from my ears and clouding my bloodshot vision.

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - VII

June 25th 2008 05:06

I’m not sure if the above photo is an artistic installation, but it looks like one, so I’ve included it as my window display. I’ve got a thing for crocodiles (or is that an alligator?) … and the derriere and long legs of the female kind. But I digress …

There’s a bit more colour in this selection of art, a bit more vibrancy in the macabre. But that’s all I’m going to say. I’m not an art critic; I just compile the “exhibition” and let my readers have an oogle. That’s the best way to present art, let it speak for itself

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - VI

May 1st 2008 23:14

Are your bad dreams a little on the bland and tedious side? Do you need a little inspiration for your nightmare melting pot? Imagery that’s truly surreal, grotesque, outlandish and seductively horrendous? You’ve come to the right place … The Horrorphile’s Art Lair, a scarily fine selection of paintings, sketches, and illustrations from international artists.

[ Click here to read more ]

113

Vote

Comments (9)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - V

March 28th 2008 23:29

If only the modern horror movie was as richly textured, boldly formed, and palpably fearsome as the art work on display here in The Art Lair, I’d be a happy little chappy!

[ Click here to read more ]

175

Vote

Comments (12)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - IV

February 22nd 2008 01:17

A picture may paint a thousand words … But a piece of horror art cuts through flesh and bone and etches deep into the marrow an obituary of dark and bloodied brilliance. Check these dark and delicious works by talented young artists from all over the world.

[ Click here to read more ]

133

Vote

Comments (8)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - III

December 31st 2007 03:32

It’s my last post for the year. So I thought I’d end with the next exhibition of The Art Lair. These are dark and confronting illustrations from artists from all over the world. Linger and ogle.

And have a bloody good new year

[ Click here to read more ]

151

Vote

Comments (14)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - II

November 29th 2007 02:15

I love the way each person can interpret different things from a piece of artwork, more so than your average movie poster. As much as I love graphic design, a movie poster is, more often than not, designed to illicit an immediate and deliberate response from the viewer; basically the poster should be saying “You want to see this movie! Now!”

With a piece of artwork, whether it be an charcoal sketch, a water colour painting, an air-brushed illustration, or a metal sculpture, the intention of the artist is to create a reaction from the viewer; not necessarily a feel-good sensation, but definitely an excited one. With horror art, the artist’s intention is to create a sense of morbid fascination, unease, dread, a macabre rush of adrenalin as fear crawls up the spine, or, most effectively, a recoil, as the imagery reminds one of a recent nightmare

[ Click here to read more ]

116

Vote

Comments (4)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

THE ART LAIR - horror artwork

October 9th 2007 01:40

I was surfing with intent and came across a great site full of horror and Gothic art by a multitude of artists, most of which is actually uncredited. The site is intended for webpage designers, so many of them are quite small images for using as avatars, etc. There are numerous code generators and even a whole section for myspace junkies.

The site is a smorgasbord of horror artwork; all blood and darkness for the artiste children of the night. Most are vivid paintings, but many are digitally manipulated photographs, while others are just black and white sketches, and some images are almost endearing, in a strange, macabre kind of way

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (4)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: the art lair

Email this Post to a Friend

[ Horrorphile Home ] [ Create A New Post ]

Moderated by Bryn

Orble

Orble Homepage

Start an Orble Blog