An amazing surrealist painter, Christopher A. Klein, has agreed to let us use an image of one of his works for the cover of our Fall 2012 issue.
For almost thirty years, Klein crafted scientific illustrations for National Geographic Magazine. His paintings, however, are in a surrealist mode. The artist sees a clear connection between these two practices of art-making: “Creating ancient cities from rubble, looking inside living creatures, and bringing the dead to life: scientific illustration is surreal by it’s very nature.”
He goes on to say of his current work:
Surrealism is a way for me to create my own world whether it be an archeological recreation, deep sea representation, or a futuristic scene… My ability to render in high detail and a vivid imagination are the prerequisites for creating accurate paintings of historic people, the places they lived and worshiped, as well as the inner workings of both animals and machines. After 26 years of scientific art, my work is now going full circle back to my fine art roots in surrealism, now reflecting realistic images in unnatural settings or unnatural images in even more bizarre environments.
You can see more of Klein’s work at his website. He is represented by Ann Nathan Gallery.
The works pictured above are Griffin, oil on linen 24” by 18” (left) and The Duet, oil on panel, 13.5” by 11.5” (right).