Uncanny
Uncanny is a concept that describes a strange and anxious feeling evoked by familiar objects placed in unfamiliar or unsettling contexts, or familar objects made unfamiliar through subtle alteration.
The concept of the ‘uncanny’ was originally introduced by German psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch in his 1906 essay, ‘On the Psychology of the Uncanny’. Jentsch described the uncanny, known as ‘unheimlich’ in German, as something new and unknown that often initially carries negative connotations.
Sigmund Freud's 1919 essay, ‘The Uncanny’ redefined the idea as the experience when something can be both familiar and alien simultaneously. He posited that ‘unheimlich’ stood in opposition to ‘heimlich’, which could mean homely and familiar but also secret, concealed, or private. Freud argued that ‘unheimlich’ not only signified the unknown but also revealed something that was hidden or repressed. He referred to it as "that class of frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar."
Artists, particularly those associated with the surrealist movement, drew upon uncanny in art to create artworks that combined familiar elements in unexpected ways to provoke uncanny sensations.
42 results found for "Uncanny"
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Hiroshi Sugimoto uses his 19th century box camera to photograph man-made projections of human existence.
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman is a hallmark of 20th-century art. Since the 1970s she’s taken pictures of herself as different ‘types’ of people from American culture and beyond. In this Artist’s Artist, we look at how the representation of women in popular culture shaped her history-making career.
George Condo
American artist George Condo was part of the it-crowd in 1980s New York, hanging out at Andy Warhold’s factory. He blends Surrealism, Cubism and Pop Art to paint his own weird and wonderful world.
Anna Ridler – What's it worth?
Conceptual artist Anna Ridler has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for over a decade. Her work with tulips explores value, speculation and desire.
Gregory Crewdson – 25 years of Twilight
On the 25th anniversary of landmark series Twilight, revisit Gregory Crewdson's supernatural vision of suburbia and collect a trio of limited edition photographic prints.
Yayoi Kusama Louis Vuitton: When Will The Dots Stop?
Bags, billboards and Bella Hadid. The commodification of Yayoi Kusama.
Ryan Travis Christian
Ryan Travis Christian (he/him) was born 1983 in California, USA. He currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
Kotao Tomozawa
Kotao Tomozawa (she/her) was born in 1999 in Bordeaux, France. She now lives, works and studies in Japan as a Graduate student at Tokyo university of the arts.
Keita Morimoto
Keita Morimoto was born in 1990 in Osaka. He is based in Tokyo, Japan
Alfie Caine
Alfie Caine (he/him) was born in 1996 in London, England, and now lives and works in Rye, East Sussex, England.
Fvckrender
Fvckrender (he/him) was born 1991 in Montreal. Today, he lives and works in Vancouver, Canada.
Cui Jie
Cui Jie was born in 1983 in Shanghai, China, and now lives and works in Beijing.
Antonia Showering
Antonia Showering was born in London, UK, where she continues to live and work.
Mecha
Generative expressionism meets hyper-textured printmaking in a new series by Michael Kozlowski (mpkoz).Written entirely in GLSL and JavaScript, Mecha is centred on synthesised texture - procedurally, thematically and physically. It represents the final evolution of a photoreal painting algorithm mpkoz started developing two years ago.“The narrative behind Mecha is an exercise in maximalism. I wanted to push my technical skills, the complexity of the outputs, and the technology used to print them, to their limit.”In doing so, Mecha became a visual reflection of this process: a series of complex, tactile compositions each replicating physicality, consistency, light and shadow to an uncanny level. It is the first body of work that mpkoz has created in which the technical processes used to create the artwork directly influence the visual composition of the outputs.This narrative of maximalism extends into the printing process. The artist worked closely with the printmakers at Make-Ready in London for over a year, perfecting a cutting-edge technique to physically reproduce the simulated depth of Mecha’s outputs.Each artwork is printed with up to 31 layers of UV-cured ink on an aluminium plate – resulting in a variable build-up of texture, highlighting the level of detail present in the algorithmic outputs and bringing them to life in a way that simply isn’t possible on a digital display.
Alake Shilling
Alake Shilling was born in 1993 in Los Angeles, California, where she continues to live and work.
Tomás Sánchez
Tomás Sánchez was born in 1948 in Cuba, and is now based in Costa Rica.
Javier Calleja
Javier Calleja was born in 1971 in Malaga, Spain, where he continues to live and work.
Elmgreen & Dragset
Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset were born in the 1960s in Denmark and Norway, and have worked as an artist duo since 1995.
Untitled [Ray of Light]
With Twilight, a series of 40 elaborately-staged photographs taken between 1998 and 2002, Gregory Crewdson arrived at the epic, filmic approach which has come to define his instantly recognisable images.25 years on, three images from the series have been reprised as limited edition prints – available to order individually or as a triptych with a 10% discount.Twilight explores liminal moments in small town America. Everyday settings become paranormal as night draws and bizarre details arise. Intentionally ambiguous, each photograph resembles a climatic film noir still while eluding any concrete plot, place or character.In the final print, a narrow beam of light invades an otherwise-innocuous corner. The spot where it lands – home to a wooden signpost and a broken fence – wriggles beneath its newfound significance.“I like the way that something as simple as a ray of light can change a landscape from ordinary to mysterious or uncanny. Light becomes a narrative code. Here, the ray of light offers a sense of something larger than us – expansive, or transcendent. There are moths in the picture, which are a motif that runs through my work. In this case, I took real moths that I photographed for a previous series and composited them into the light.”
![Untitled [Ray of Light]](https://a.storyblok.com/f/119968/1200x1600/06f7344f87/ray-of-light-gregory-crewdson-01.jpg/m/2340x0 "Untitled [Ray of Light]")
Ruki-chan (Black)
Kotao’ Tomozawa's interrogations of the uncanny continue in an edition of sculptural slime dolls.Ruki-chan appears as if picked up by an ankle, Achilles-style, and dipped head-first into a pool of slime. A recurring character in Kotao’s practice, Ruki-chan is based on her childhood doll – a companion who played a part in her early experiments with slime. The bronze sculpture is covered in a layer of urethane paint, contrasting a black gloss coating reflecting the hyperreal shine of slime. Absurd, intriguing and yet elegantly-minimal, Ruki-chan continues the artist’s mediations on senses and texture.
Ruki-chan (Red)
Kotao’ Tomozawa's interrogations of the uncanny continue in an edition of sculptural slime dolls.Ruki-chan appears as if picked up by an ankle, Achilles-style, and dipped head-first into a pool of red slime. A recurring character in Kotao’s practice, Ruki-chan is based on her childhood doll – a companion who played a part in her early experiments with slime. The bronze sculpture is covered in a layer of urethane paint, contrasting a red gloss coating reflecting the hyperreal shine of slime. Absurd, intriguing and yet elegantly-minimal, Ruki-chan continues the artist’s mediations on senses and texture.
CLEMENTINE
Beech and walnut wood rouse new life in Roby Dwi Antono’s uncanny character.CLEMENTINE playfully echoes one of Roby’s iconic watercolour paintings in three dimensions. The deep walnut tones in the character's hair and body carefully frame her facial features, composed of lighter beech wood. Gently applied hand-painted inky blue eyes, a pink button nose and pursed lips vividly compliment the natural exposed textures found within the wood.
slime XCIX
Slathered in a crimson ooze, slime XCIX is born.The print edition translates an original painting from Kotao Tomozawa’s slime series into six silkscreen layers, finished with a dusting of glitter. The artist’s hyper-realistic style is emphasised through the use of a high gloss varnish seal, mimicking the translucent effect seen in her paintings. The composition further contributes to the idea that this image could be a photograph, resembling that of a polaroid picture.The uncanny appears in various forms throughout Tomozawa’s practice. In this instance, a plastic doll. Slime is another recurring motif, as the artist recalls calming moments from her childhood spent playing with the substance. Combined with the use of red, a sinister undertone pervades – the slime coating appearing like a mask, falling unnaturally to leave the doll’s eyes and mouth uncovered.
D.I.Y
A hammer in one hand and a nail through the other, all is not as it seems for the pink protagonist of D.I.Y by Nicasio Fernandez. The edition renders the artist’s intriguing creation in a silkscreen print of 33 varying colours – capturing the richness of colour typically used in his oil paintings. Though uncanny, the pink figure is engaged in the everyday act of D.I.Y labour.“Painting should excite, agitate and entertain.”
Hot blue bath
Innocence and menace meet in a richly coloured scene by Jordi Ribes.Hot blue bath reimagines Ribes' original oil painting through labour intensive photopolymer etching. The unusual medium allows the capture of both meticulous detail and dense pigment, resulting in a sleek but amply textured print. Uncanny and restricted by the coiled bath, the central figure is surrounded by an undulating, vegetal landscape seemingly ready to swallow them whole.The edition will launch in three distinct colour palettes, conceived by the artist to be displayed together or singularly.
Hot green bath
Innocence and menace meet in a richly coloured scene by Jordi Ribes.Hot green bath reimagines Ribes' original oil painting through labour intensive photopolymer etching. The unusual medium allows the capture of both meticulous detail and dense pigment, resulting in a sleek but amply textured print. Uncanny and restricted by the coiled bath, the central figure is surrounded by an undulating, vegetal landscape seemingly ready to swallow them whole.The edition will launch in three distinct colour palettes, conceived by the artist to be displayed together or singularly.
Hot orange bath
Innocence and menace meet in a richly coloured scene by Jordi Ribes.Hot orange bath reimagines Ribes' original oil painting through labour intensive photopolymer etching. The unusual medium allows the capture of both meticulous detail and dense pigment, resulting in a sleek but amply textured print. Uncanny and restricted by the coiled bath, the central figure is surrounded by an undulating, vegetal landscape seemingly ready to swallow them whole.The edition will launch in three distinct colour palettes, conceived by the artist to be displayed together or singularly.
BIAS II
With BIAS II, Roby Dwi Antono turns his attention to a new medium.The ceramic edition, a familiar face from past print collaborations, casts a deadpan gaze through large, inky eyes. A glazed surface with dappled monochrome details echoes the skillfully-rendered surfaces of Dwi Antono’s uncanny, oil paint originals.
Boys Don't Cry
b.wing channels personal stories through uncanny characters – in this case A-boy, the central figure of Boys Don’t Cry.A pair of stoic yet soulful eyes and large rabbit ears are a point of focus of the emotive acrylic painting. By drawing and painting, the artist reviews her past and channels her emotions into her work, like the pain of rejection or the joy of victory. Boys Don’t Cry is part of Studio Works, a series of original artworks by emerging global artists.
Magesian
Magesian, a misunderstood monster, demands care and empathy – two themes at the core of A-Lei’s practice.Informed by an original ceramic sculpture and a series of ink sketches, the beguiling brass creature clutches a similarly peculiar ride. Sepia tones nod to A-Lei’s upbringing in Taiwan – each figure hand-finished in cream automotive paint. The strange anatomy of both figures stems from a childhood passion for animatronics and anime. Any unease arising from the duo’s uncanny appearance is quickly replaced by tenderness – a deft rebuttal of prejudice and misunderstanding.“As I’m sculpting, it feels like the work becomes more and more alive.”
Searching for Spring
Traditional Chinese techniques meet modern-day anxieties in Johnson Tsang’s uncanny wall hanging Searching for Spring.Tsang reminds us that we should simply do our best instead of tearing ourselves up in the pursuit of the good things in life. Spring symbolises the chance for a break after the hardship of winter.“If we have faith and positivity through the bad times, the good times will finally come afterwards.”
Loose Screw
Anna Weyant’s precisely rendered works depict figures embroiled in tragicomic narratives. Everyday objects in her still life compositions adopt an uncanny, portentous air.Loose Screw reprises a graphite study for an original painting as an edition of hand-pulled lithographs. The scene centres on a lone woman at a bar, laughing forcefully over a glass of wine. A column on the right acts as a stand-in for a second figure – leading us to question whether the subject is indeed happy to be alone, or starting to unravel in an age of self-isolation.A percentage of profits from this edition will be donated to World Central Kitchen.
The Face Before You Were Born
The surreal and uncanny surface in Nigel Howlett’s monochromatic visions of human complexity.The Face Before You Were Born takes its title from Howlett’s debut solo show at Ojiri Gallery in London. The book acts as an archive for the seamlessly rendered, faceless figures seen in the show and the captivating processes that underpin them. Unseen sketches, mini-essays and high quality artwork images are brought together across 110 pages in 3 carefully chosen paper stocks.Foreword and essays by Millie Walton, photography by James Bryant and designed by Punkt, London.
The Face Before You Were Born (Signed Collector's Edition)
The surreal and uncanny surface in Nigel Howlett’s monochromatic visions of human complexity.The Face Before You Were Born takes its title from Howlett’s debut solo show at Ojiri Gallery in London. The book acts as an archive for the seamlessly rendered, faceless figures seen in the show and the captivating processes that underpin them. Unseen sketches, mini-essays and high quality artwork images are brought together across 110 pages in 3 carefully chosen paper stocks.A special collector’s edition has been created with black foiling on the exterior and black-edged interior pages – each copy individually signed by the artist. Foreword and essays by Millie Walton, photography by James Bryant and design by Punkt, London.
Lucid Dream II - Who’s There?
Johnson Tsang’s white porcelain sculptures draw on a clean, classic aesthetic to depict uncanny and grotesque expressions. Tsang’s work brushes against aesthetics from across art history, but his primary inspiration lies in personal experience and his intense, bizarre dreams, which he makes palpable through his sculptures.The 2022 limited sculpture edition, Lucid Dream II - Who's There? by Johnson Tsang offers a hyperreal and reflective experience for the viewer - a potent example of the themes he explores in his work. An integrated mirror invites viewers to see their reflection through a freakish mouth, stretched upon by hands creeping out of its throat.Johnson Tsang’s Lucid Dream II - Who's There? has sold out. The good news? We will release new editions by Johnson Tsang in the future, available to buy online at Avant Arte.
Sleeping Dino
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.Sleeping Dino is an original oil pastel drawing on paper — an expressive and informal example of the artist’s distinct character stylings and quietly sinister narratives.
The Battle
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.The Battle is an original oil pastel drawing on paper — an expressive and informal example of the artist’s distinct character stylings and quietly sinister narratives.
Fight for a Dream
Hong Kong artist Johnson Tsang creates uncanny sculptures that capture the surreal freedom of his lucid dreams, using white porcelain to draw on a clean, classic aesthetic.
KIRA
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.KIRA typifies the artist’s distinct character codes — an uncanny Renaissance-meets-Superflat figure with dark, glassy eyes.
The Warrior #2
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.The Warrior #2 is an original oil pastel drawing on paper — an expressive and informal example of the artist’s distinct character stylings and quietly sinister narratives.
I'll Kill Her
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.I’ll Kill Her is an original oil pastel drawing on paper — an expressive and informal example of the artist’s distinct character stylings and quietly sinister narratives.
This Conversation
Roby Dwi Antono pulls from hazy recollections of his childhood in Indonesia to inform uncanny, surrealist scenes.This Conversation is an original oil pastel drawing on paper — an expressive and informal example of the artist’s distinct character stylings and quietly sinister narratives.
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