Maurice Sendak on acid

August 27, 2007 5:57 PM

The bizarre art of Christopher Uminga. Eerie, Cute and simultaneously freaky. Bonus points for the awesome rendering of one of the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes ever, Hush. Here is a link to the whole gallery.
posted by sneakin (21 comments total)

I am officially sick of art like this.
posted by autodidact at 6:15 PM on August 27, 2007

It's done very well.

I just wish it weren't done so often.
posted by dersins at 6:27 PM on August 27, 2007

I've never understood the appeal of art like this.

I liked The Gentlemen, though.
posted by rtha at 6:45 PM on August 27, 2007

Nothing about this is even vaguely reminiscent of Maurice Sendak. Sendak moves me. This does not.
posted by JeffK at 6:52 PM on August 27, 2007

Maurice Sendak Jhonen Vasquez on acid nothing

There, fixed.
posted by aaronetc at 7:13 PM on August 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sendak's demons are his own and very personal...these are more obviously demonic and perhaps that's why they are getting a negative response, hereabouts.

I think they're extremely well done, and I really do like them. Went through the entire archive, too. I've seen an awful lot of the genre, living here in Japan, and not much of it is this good.

That said, I think Uminga could make a killing if he sold his soul and produced a t-shirt line...which isn't exactly calling it great art, is it?

*goes off to write a business proposal*
posted by squasha at 7:18 PM on August 27, 2007

urgh. I meant "...more obviously status quo demonic..."
posted by squasha at 7:20 PM on August 27, 2007

bizarre =! a collection of images and ideas popularly assumed to be bizarre
predictable == a collection of images and ideas popularly assumed to be bizarre
posted by nímwunnan at 7:22 PM on August 27, 2007

Hm. This reminds me a whole lot of the Jhonen Vasquez comics I used to read when I was in high school. It doesn't seem to take it anywhere new, though.... Not really much Sendak in it either.
posted by renraw at 7:28 PM on August 27, 2007

Didn't preview, good on aaronetc for calling it before me.
posted by renraw at 7:30 PM on August 27, 2007

TODD GOLDMAN
posted by anthill at 9:10 PM on August 27, 2007

This looks like something Todd Goldman copied.
posted by fandango_matt at 9:13 PM on August 27, 2007

Ah, anthill, you beat me to it...
posted by fandango_matt at 9:13 PM on August 27, 2007

Lame, cliched, faux edgy crap that hopefully is purged your freshman year at art school. Not this time, alas....
posted by Scoo at 9:25 PM on August 27, 2007

Todd Goldman, indeed.

Just shit to add a trite LOLGOTH phrase beneath [in red Sand, of course] and sell on black t-shirts at Hot Topic.
posted by blasdelf at 12:04 AM on August 28, 2007

Also, stop it with the references to "$childhoodMemory on $drug"
posted by blasdelf at 12:21 AM on August 28, 2007

Reminds me rather strongly of Luke Chueh.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:33 AM on August 28, 2007

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this guy is an unoriginal hack.
posted by autodidact at 7:08 AM on August 28, 2007

Isn't Maurice Sendak on acid... Maurice Sendak?
posted by mkultra at 7:26 AM on August 28, 2007

Echoing comments above, obviously influenced by the far better Jhonen Vasquez and perhaps a bit of Andrew Bell.

Nothing special.
posted by elendil71 at 8:20 AM on August 28, 2007

oh wow it's even less self-aware jhonen vasquez

you do realize that jhonen vasquez is god-damned terrible too, right
posted by beefetish at 9:33 AM on August 28, 2007