“Lust.” A painting from artist Gail Potocki’s latest series, ‘The Seven Deadly Sins.’
 
The artwork of Chicago-based artist Gail Potocki may be familiar to you as her work has been shown in galleries the world over. Her modern paintings would look right at home hanging alongside those of European masters painters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony van Dyck, as well as the Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi. In short, Potocki’s work is nothing short of breathtaking.

In her latest show set to open this coming weekend at the Century Guild in Culver City, California, Potocki will reveal her ethereal and unique take on “The Seven Deadly Sins.” If you are somehow not familiar with Potocki’s artwork and like what you see in this post, I highly recommend picking up the 2006 book The Union of Hope and Sadness: The Art of Gail Potocki. Some of the images that follow are slightly NSFW.
 

“Pride.”
 

“Greed.”
 
More after the jump…

A Collapse of World Lines

People of El Lay, if you happen to find yourself along Culver City’s “art walk” tonight, make sure to put Gail Potocki‘s “Fragmented Alice” show at Century Guild gallery on your list of “must see” exhibits.

“Fragmented Alice” is 21st century “Old Master” Potocki’s first public show in three years. The work utilizes the archetypes of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland mythology to explore the ways in which we experience the passing of time. 

“I have a large turn-of-the-century cabinet in my home devoted to Alice in Wonderland,” Potocki explains. “From the time I was a little girl, the story fascinated me, and as I got older I bought every Alice-related oddity I could find.  I have antique card games, old metal toys… I even found LSD paper from the 1960s with an Alice theme!”

The results of Potocki’s explorations are on display from August 17- September 21 at at the Century Guild gallery at 6150 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA. The opening is tonight at 7pm and exhibition hours are Thursday through Sunday, noon-8pm.
 

I Wonder if I’ve Been Changed in the Night
 

It Doesn’t Matter Which Way You Go…

Pip
 
Mega-talented Chicago-based artist Gail Potocki is serving up some major awesomeness with her limited—only 100 sets signed and numbered by the artist herself—handmade letterpressed trading cards of “history’s most recognizable sideshow performers.”

The SERIES ONE set titled Freaks “comes with all five cards in a textured, deckled edge envelope with hand stamped details.”

These are truly gorgeous. I can’t wait to see SERIES TWO. Amazing.

The set is $40.00. You can purchase them here.
 

Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy
 

Daisy & Violet Hilton
 
More of ‘Freaks’ after the jump…
 

Above, Dean Karr’s “Prague Twins”
 
Ack! I missed out on posting about the opening of this incredible looking art show currently hanging in the Windy City, but it’s still up for a few more days should you live or find yourself in Chicago this week:

Century Guild invites you to investigate the dark and sensual wilderness of two of history’s most vilified figures: THE WITCH and her dark master, SATAN.  “Grand Guignol II: HÄXAN – Satan + The Women who love Him” explores not only turn-of-the-century artists’ fascination with these embodiments of evil, but also brings together a roster of acclaimed contemporary artists who’ve rendered their dark visions for a one night only special exhibition.  This event marks the one-year anniversary of Century Guild’s showroom, which opened its doors in Chicago’s industrial Kinzie District last October for the beyond capacity show, “Grand Guignol: An Exhibition Celebrating the Legendary Parisian Theater of Terror.”

Artworks include original historical posters from the French theater of terror Le Théâtre du Grand Guignol, antique works on paper by Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha, a selection of 19th century Devil imagery, and modern contributions from contemporary painters Dave McKean (cover illustrator of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman), Michael Hussar, Gail Potocki, and Chris Mars; photographers Dean Karr (video director for Marilyn Manson), Austin Young, and Steve Diet Goedde; Italian poster art collective Malleus, and more.

You can email Century Guild curator Thomas Negovan for a private appointment to see “Grand Guignol II: HÄXAN – Satan + The Women who love Him”

Below, Dangerous Minds pal Austin Young’s fab portrait of infernal opera diva, Diamanda Galas:
 

 
“Unkept and Whispered,” a triptych by the extremely talented Gail Potocki, below: