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Fantasies and Nightmares Collide in a New Group Show of Oil Painters

Christopher Ulrich, Amanda Sage, and Adrian Cox come together for the Myth and Mutation show at the beinArt Gallery.
Christopher Ulrich, The Knight, oil on board, 27.9 x 35.6cm (11”x14”).

Ghoul portraits, flower people, and interdimensional visions line the walls of the beinArt Gallery for a new group show of oil painters entitled Myth and Mutation. Together, artists Adrian Cox, Christopher Ulrich, and Amanda Sage transform the gallery space into a wonderous fantasy world that will make you feel like a kid again. Each artist takes a creative new approach to the human form that derive from a wide variety of historic motifs.

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Adrian Cox, Big Thinker with Philosophical Treatise, oil on panel, 45.7 x 61cm (18"x 24").

Much like epic fantasy authors J.K Rowling and J.R.R Tolkien, artist Adrian Cox creates worlds; an entire race of mythical beings called Border Creatures, in this case. Tree roots, autumn shrubs, and vibrant flower bouquets erupt out of these anthropomorphic figures. Cox casts vegetative humanoids as amorous heroes with their own language and literature.

Adrian Cox, Big Dreamer with Failed Poetry, oil on panel, 45.7 x 61cm (18”x24").

Over his career, Christopher Ulrich’s surreal folkloric paintings have made their way into galleries all around the world. These gothic portraits borrow their stylistic cues from the baroque and turn medieval archetypes into the type of ghoulish characters you might see in a Guillermo del Toro film. In fact, it comes as no surprise that Ulrich is a guest artist at the Mexican filmmaker’s At Home with Monsters exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ulrich’s paintings morph the human form with original supernatural oddities that draw inspiration from ancient mythology, alchemy, and cosmic reality.

Christopher Ulrich, The King, oil on board, 27.9 x 35.6cm (11”x14”).

For artist Amanda Sage, painting is more than just an outlet of expression, it's a tool for spiritual and planetary growth and transformation. Reminiscent of Alex Grey's cosmic paintings, Sage’s crisp acrylic compositions explore the human condition and a shared interconnectedness that she conveys through line. Once upon a time, Sage was an assistant to Ernst Fuchs, one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, an artist group and genre surrounding wondrous paintings that put particular emphasis on the techniques of the Old Masters. Her time with Fuchs has clear influence to her work present day. In regards to the show, Sage writes, “Woven in the complexity of opposites life dances with life, mutating myth and matter. The chalice of everlasting life is not something to be sought, it lives within the caverns of the imagination.”

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Amanda Sage, Holy Matter, acrylic, casein and oil on canvas, 61 x 122cm (24”x48”).

Adrian Cox, Big Thinker Contemplating Summer, oil on canvas, 40.6 x 50.8cm (16"x20").

Myth and Mutation show is up at the beinArt gallery in Melbourne from December 10th to the 31st. To learn more about the show head over to gallery’s website.

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