Malebranche Black Art - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Adolf Hitler"Velvet Anathema" Velvet painting is essentially a romantic medium. Subjects portrayed on velvet are generally objects of admiration such as pop icons, religious icons and nude women, or romantic depictions of exotic locales or customs, the ubiquitous matadors are a perfect example. It is a commercial medium, essentially designed to evoke sentiment from those who are anything but connoisseurs of fine art. Velvet lends itself to sensous, simple brushstrokes that can only enhance the romantic appeal of any subject portrayed.But, as with bullfighting, there is something darker and more carnal intrinsic to velvet painting. The best velvet paintings allow the black velvet to seep through. Velvet is a medium wherein the darkness holds sway over the light. Unlike traditional oil painting, velvet painting demands chiaroscuro; it is more than a selected effect. Black is the base, the underlayer of every black velvet painting.My work is an effort to bring to the surface that base blackness, to explore the possibilities offered by a medium that is both romantic and dark, to romanticize the subjects that are rarely portrayed in a favorable light. Traditionally, velvet painters portray the loved; I prefer to paint the hated. I paint scapegoats, dictators, despots, conquerors, murderers, antagonists, rebels, monsters, the uncomfortable, the misunderstood and that which is distasteful or generally despised. The context of velvet painting, as a medium known for romanticism, adds a bit of black humor to every depiction of society's personae non grata.Intentionally, my work also provokes the viewer and causes them to ask themselves to consider why a certain chracter or type is despised. I claim no particular fraternity with or affinity for the subjects I paint. The purpose is to force the viewer to question why we hate those who are hated, or disdain that which is commonly disliked. Too often, we fail to question the rationale for popular anathema.

My Interests

The despised.

Music:

The Ultra-Lounge collection.

Movies:

Dahmer, Hannibal, Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, The Cook The Theif His Wife and Her Lover, Downfall, Crybaby, Fight Club, Cleopatra, Deliverance, Dagon, The Ninth Gate...

Television:

Nip/Tuck

Heroes:

Caravaggio, Leeteg of Tahiti, Matthew Barney, Fuseli, Goya, Sargent...

My Blog

Phallic Crosses for Sale

About two years ago, I hand crafted two oak crosses and finely rendered some very impressive cocks on them with oils. The painting quality is some of my very best work, as the crosses were originally ...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 02:29:00 PST

Himmler's Rasputin - Karl Maria Wiligut

Himmler's Rasputin - Karl Maria Wiligut (Commission)
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:03:00 PST

Recent Commissions

For the past several months, I have not been accepting commissions, while I worked on my book. Now that the book is being printed, I am opening a very short window for commissions. Here are a few rece...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:09:00 PST

Malebranche Black Art goes UNPOP!

A generous selection of my work is now on the UNPOP web site on the 'Artworks II' page. UNPOP contains a lot of delightfully offensive work, and I'm thrilled to have some of my work included t...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Wed, 12 Apr 2006 06:22:00 PST

Nonstop Drama on The Malcontent

One of my favorite paintings, Jesus Christ Bukakke, received a lot of attention on the Malcontent blog recently, after a Catholic saw it and was, predictably, outraged. Praise and outrage from that ...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:43:00 PST

Recent Work

Recent Paintings "Man With Boar's Head" Shown in the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival (March 23-26) Still Available (This is a large painting with a hand made frame) "Jesus Christ Bukkake" Triptych S...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Wed, 29 Mar 2006 12:36:00 PST

Upcoming Shows

Seattle Erotic Art Festival I will have artwork featured in the upcoming Seattle Erotic Art Festival. The juried show runs from March 24-26, and will be held at: Consolidated Works500 Boren A...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Tue, 07 Mar 2006 05:54:00 PST

Jim Jones

He're a preview of one of several images that will be hanging at Wired Coffee in Portland throughout the month of January: (Wired Coffee, I will be bringing them in tomorrow) "Jim Jones" Oi...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Mon, 02 Jan 2006 12:51:00 PST

Happy Hitler!

16" x 20" oil on velvet
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:11:00 PST

Yukio Mishima on Velvet

Haven't posted a recent painting in a while. I've been working on commissions, thinking about re-working the web site and saving a few things to present together. But I do love this one...
Posted by Malebranche Black Art on Thu, 08 Dec 2005 09:25:00 PST