The 10th Anniversary, Issue 41 of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, with Michael Parkes’ enchanting, magical realism painting “Sophia Rose” on the cover is on sale now! Contact one of our Stockists or Shop Online, but don’t miss this special Issue. Take a peek at what’s inside below.
The 10th Anniversary Issue 41
Inside this Issue, we delve into the work of Andrew Hem, an artist whose Cambodian background, his father’s love of landscapes, and his immersion in LA street art, have all come together to make work that bridges these disparate influences and captures the essence of the people moving through them.
A natural-born visual storyteller of old and new worlds, Tamura Yoshiyasu, captivates us with soft portraits of mysterious women dripping in the traditional dresses of geisha, richly decorated in alchemic patterns.
Many Japanese manga drawings on paper are less durable than their European counterparts. My goal is to make Japanese manga and traditional paintings retain the durability of medieval European golden background tempera paintings.
Tamura Yoshiyasu
Cover artist, Michael Parkes has been one of the living legends of magical realism for the last 50 years. Now 78, Michael is a high-energy individual whose creative output is prolific and prodigious, meticulous and intelligent. As you will find out, Michael has learned that there is something magical about human consciousness and the ways of our universe, which is more real than many of us know.
As we advanced intellectually, we became aware that Nature had magic, but it wasn’t the magic. There was something behind nature that was the power source. We now know that the sun is not a deity. We know what it is. So then you have to go further and say, OK, there is something there, something behind.
Michael Parkes
We also take a keep dive into Tania Rivilis’ work, where she urges the spectator to become an artist themselves. A teller of stories whose canvas is someone else’s; a sort of meeting between the metaphorical canvas of imagination and the physical one of a painter. This dance, initiated by the artist, betrays a particular sensibility and savviness in the way she approaches her artistic creation and how to showcase it.
I want to capture moments when people realise they are truly alive, feeling, and present. It is in these transient moments when the stranger across the way appears as if bathed in a magical glow, that my inspiration is born.
Tania Rivilis
In this Issue, we launch our Artist Directory! The Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory is the premier platform for discovering and connecting with the most exceptional, innovative and skilled artists working in various mediums and styles. A global network that brings together artists, collectors, galleries, curators and media. Through our comprehensive and curated list of artists, we present the best artwork from around the world. Want to join? You can do so here.
If you’ve ever wondered about the birth of Beautiful Bizarre, we take a closer look at 10 years of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine with an exclusive interview with Danijela Krha Purssey, the woman who started it all. Learn how her journey began as a small online community and flourished into print-on-demand publication. Which has since grown into a truly diverse international, multi-faceted business incorporating not just the magazine itself, but also our yearly curated exhibitions, the annual Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, and now of course the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory. All driven by her mission to champion artists and photographers from all corners of the globe.
I am deeply proud to still be publishing after 10 years, and so very grateful to all of our readers and subscribers who continue to support our independent magazine.
Danijela Krha Purssey
We also discover Modern Eden Gallery owners and curators, Kim Larson & Bradley Platz’s long and winding journey, from selling art supplies and meeting each other, to establishing a world-renowned gallery and growing a spectacular collection that overlooks a contemporary art movement in the making – in the Issue 41 Collector’s Profile.
Get inspired as Louise and Martin McIntosh, Directors of Outré Gallery, share what they would like to add to their personal collection in this Issue’s Curator’s Wishlist.
At Arcadia Contemporary
From Louise and Martin McIntosh, Directors of Outré Gallery
These female representations are Roxanne’s “socially realistic Disney princesses”, often heavily impacted by social media, “an unavoidable subject” of our times.
Excerpt from Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm’s Essay by Helena aryal
In this special Issue, Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm notes that her characters represent who she is trying to project into the world. ”With that also comes all the preconceptions and social expectations that we are subjected to as people in general, particularly in my case, as a woman. Sometimes this process forces me to expose harder truths about myself. But by putting them into physical reality, I alleviate the effect these truths have on me.”
Next let us deep dive into Yuki T Photography‘s incredible photography which captures fable-like reveries, moments frozen in time, in rugged and deserted places. In these desolate realms, we meet women with bewitching energies that look as though they’ve been summoned from the depths of someone’s daydream.
Inside Issue 41, we also peek into the creativity of Jennifer O’Connell, an artistic chameleon. To some she is known as “Jennifer Strings”, to others she is called “Known As Myself”, but usually everyone calls her Jen. Art is power. It’s a human creation that’s as old as time itself. For thousands of years, art has offered comfort to those wishing to tell their stories. Art is a healer, but only if the artist is brave enough to pick up a pencil and face themselves. Jennifer O’Connell is an artist who was brave enough to pick up her tools and choose to heal through animation.
Making art has been a daily meditative practice for me for my entire life. When there’s been nothing else left to turn to there was always that.
Known As Myself
Next we are intrigued by the soulful gaze of artist Ilya Zomb, a skilled painter and visual artist whose career spans several decades. According to the artist, every situation depicted in his paintings exist in a realm of semi-objective possibility, in spite of how unreal it might seem at first glance. “There is nothing supernatural, but there is a certain moment of balance and equilibrium when everything becomes possible. Each element of my paintings is realistic, and their connection is possible, even if only within the canvas. That’s why I call my style pseudo-realism.”
As well, in this Issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Paolo Puck – whose vibrant soft sculptures and richness of the characters make their world believable as opposed to telling their story. “People will fill in the gaps with their own imagination” he states, “there’s magic in the mystery.”
Paolo Puck respects his creations with an understanding of the magic that goes deep into his art. Like many of the artistic forms throughout history that involve wearing a mask, his sculptures provoke a sense of mystery that can be multi-faceted.
Excerpt from Paolo Puck’s article by Addison Deverux, inside Issue 41
Drink from the potion and fall under the spell of full page reproductions of Nona Limmen‘s haunting photographs, inside this Issue’s ever-inspiring Lookbook Editorial.
In the Quick Q & A editorial, we ask five artists: Lou Benesch, Petite Doll, Karen Turner, Loputyn, and Win Wallace [2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, Honourable Mention], to answer the same questions:
- How do you maintain your individuality as an artist and avoid being influenced by others in your field?
- Tell us about your earliest memories of creating art and when you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?
- How do you balance your personal life with your art career while ensuring a healthy work/life balance?
- How do experimentation and risk-taking play a role in your creative process?
In this issues Letter from the Editor, our Editor-in-Chief, Danijela Krha Purssey celebrates Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s 10th year in business. She shares with us further insight on her background, successes, challenges, including her ongoing feelings of ‘imposter syndrome’, as we delve deeper into her personal journey.
10 years! What an amazing and important milestone for the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine team. You can read my interview which discusses the magazine’s challenges and successes inside this issue. I touch briefly in this interview about my ‘imposter syndrome’ feelings. To better understand where this feeling comes from, even after ten years, it’s important to understand a little about my career before Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
Danijela Krha Purssey
We also highlight more of the artisan fashion designers that have caught the eye of our Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief, in this Issue’s Some of our Favourite Things editorial.
And last but not least, enjoy a collection of the amazing hash tagged #beautifulbizarre artwork from our social media community of over 1 million followers!
All this inside Issue 41 // June 2023, which showcases some of the best and most inspiring emerging and mid-career artists of our time.
Visit our online store and enjoy Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Issue 41.
