Ikeda Manabu: the 'Gothic' excess of imagination

Though 'Gothic' is a borrowed term in contemporary art, applied mostly to artworks centering on death, deviance, the erotic macabre, psychologically charged sites and fragmented bodies, it is also the product of an excess of imagination, or a surplus of fantasy. In this view, Japanese artist Ikeda Manabu's meticulously drawn gigantic acrylic ink drawings, explore apocalypse and takes pleasure in the fragment, inconsistent narratives, the disjointed and the morphological. These works create feelings of gloom, mystery, terror, suspense and fear. Traditional Japanese architecture clashes with giant mangled tree roots, while swarms of birds and fish dart through the water or atmosphere. Each work takes up to two years of eight-hour days to complete. The most unbelievable aspect being that Manabu has no idea what the final artwork will look like, but instead explores each work originally from day to day as he progresses inch by inch. In 2008, Manabu created "Foretaken", a 6 by 11 foot intricately drawn merciless tsunami swallowing trains, boats, buildings and all things human that explode in a syncopated dance of destruction. The artist prefers working with 'Tachikawa Comic Nib Foutain' pens.

Nicola Samorì painting

Nicola Samorì
"La Vertigine" (Cardinale)
Oil on linen, 200 x 100cm (2012)

Gothic's shadowy relationship with the past is conveyed in the solidified ghosts of Italian artist, Nicola Samorì. Known for his smoldering intensity of his figurative work, Samorì skillfully creates moody and atmospheric pieces that weigh heavily, both physically and metaphorically. In a recent interview with Mia Benenate  (The Huffington Post) the artist states that his work "stems from fear: fear of the body, of death, of men. I think my nature as an artist is something like feeling helpless. Works are just temporary shelters and painting is a leisure place where one can conceal yourself". His influences range from a Baroque use of 'tenebrism' (darkened or deepened shadows), to a dark and eerie Gothic world. The artist lives and works near Ravenna, in Italy. When asked about the "darkness" in his work he replied that "it is an unconscious mirror perhaps, sort of an exorcism to take away something from you or give form to whatever you do not want to live. What is shown in my work is what I have escaped".