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Friday, September 11, 2009

George Grie's Goth Neosurrealist, Underwear-Wearing Femme Fatale Goddesses

I like this artwork by George Grie. For some reason I was taken aback by the woman wearing panties and bras hence the post's title; Panties and bras just don't go with Goth and Valkyries and all that stuff. Furthermore, it makes sense to me to believe that even the female mythological creatures went commando in those days.





George Grie neosurrealism art gallery: Moonlight Bathing Valkyries: Gods and Heroes series





The three graces, Goth mode style



Modern art culture and subculture influence heavily our perception of female beauty. If you check the art history, you would notice how dramatic this change could be. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, in Greek as The Three Graces, goddesses of charm, beauty, and creativity. The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, also associated with the underworld and the Eleusinian mysteries. During the earlier art period, sculptors and painters alike represented them decorated, but later artists have changed the way of portraying Graces and depict them naked.



The characterization of a beautiful person is often based on some combination that includes psychological factors such as personality, grace, charm, integrity, and elegance, and outer beauty, which includes physical factors, such as youthfulness, sexiness, symmetry, and complexion. Beauty presents a standard of comparison, and it can cause resentment when not achieved. Studies have even shown that handsome criminals receive lighter sentences than less attractive convicts. Evolutionarily it makes logical sense that sexual creatures ought to be attracted to mates who possess ordinary or average features.



Contemporary mass media bombards us with new types of alien beauties. Predators, terminators, vampires, and other underworld creatures become sources of present beautification. Universal to all is a tendency towards depression, sacred, supernatural, mystical in sounds and views. Fantasy art, Goth fashion, music attribution styles (such as Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson), popular dark movie characters (such as Alien, Predator, Resident Evil, Underworld, etc.) change our view to what might be considered as sexy, grace, and attractive.



George Grie neosurrealism art gallery: The three graces, Goth mode style





Predator monster