We Love You So – Where The Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze

It’s probably fair to say that artist/designer Marcus Walters is obsessed with simplicity. His works of drawing and collage are Matisse-like studies in how to deploy maximum expression with a minimum of flourishes. The colors are summery, the subjects range from birds to flowers to dragons, and the incorporation of handcrafted elements gives each piece a special je ne sais quoi.

Penny Davenport cites as inspiration the poetry of Ted Hughes, traditional animation and medieval images of animals. We also see whiffs of Edgar Allen Poe (sensibility-wise) and Edward Gorey (cross-hatching wise) in her fanciful illustrations.

Make no mistake: Davenport’s originality is not under dispute. Her images have the uncommon quality of being both highly specific and adaptable to seemingly any genre. Gazing at the warped birds, half-zebras, grasping frogs and still-eyed humans, you can easily imagine the images framed on a gallery wall, illustrating a fairy tale, animating a short film or hidden away in an attic. Any way you call it, they are treasures.

Issues of mechanical reproduction, unconscious art-making, and the beauty of chaos swirl about in Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s charming work. The themes are well-worn, but the approach is lighthearted and inviting. This French artist and composer has a knack for misusing everyday objects to create alarmingly organic music.

For instance: Boursiey-Mougenot once jerry-rigged a grand piano to play musical notes translated from the text being typed on a random laptop. He’s also attached harmonicas to the end of vacuum cleaners to create otherworldly, organ-like noises. In the video below, the artist placed an amplified guitar in the middle of a gallery and then allowed dozens of birds to perch upon its sensitive strings, resulting in some surprisingly listenable accidental drone!