Daily Art Fixx

Self Searching © Joe McGown

Today’s Deviant is surreal artist Joe MacGown (neogothic_jam). Joe was born in Maine and moved to Mississippi when he was ten.  His interest in art began early and as a child, he spent his time collecting insects, exploring nature, and drawing everything in sight. MacGown attended the Memphis College of Art for a while but it didn’t stick.  Instead, for a few years, he worked the night shift at a grocery store and did some freelance artwork on the side.  Since 1988, MacGown has worked at the Mississippi State Entomological Museum as a scientific illustrator and assistant curator.

MacGown’s true interest is in the “interrelationship of the environment and all forms of the animate and inanimate” and says “As I have studied nature over the course of my life, I have come to realize that every little thing we do affects something else, whether it be negative or positive. I greatly enjoy playing with positive and negative space, the juxtaposition of seemingly unnatural elements, and filling an area with as much as possible.”  MacGown describes his style as “neogothic surrealism or subconscious meandering…  a blend of fantasy, surrealism, and visionary art.”

MacGown often collaborates with other artists – one artist sends a small part of a drawing to another artist who completes the other side of the work.   The ink drawing below is called “Self Searching” and is a collaboration MacGown did with himself by drawing a series of small pictures (usually at night while watching movies with his family) that fit together as one large piece. The drawings took over 220 hours and the completed work is 30 x 39 inches. The amazing thing is, while working on each of the 9 sections, other than lining up the edges, MacGown didn’t look at the previous drawings.

To find out more about Joe MacGown and his semi-strange, incredibly detailed, and fantastic artwork, visit JoeMacGown.com or check out his profile on Deviant Art.

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2. Janelle McKain: Surreal Art
3. Exquisite Corpse: Surreal Art Collaboration
4. Happy Birthday Salvador Dali!
5. David Whitlam: Painting