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The art of Jacques Sultana

Dies Irae.

Jacques Sultana is a French artist whose paintings of naked men are very well-realised—photo-realist almost—but like a lot of gay art don’t do much apart from say “here’s a naked man.” However, his site also has a small gallery of homoerotic fantasy drawings which are equally well-done and far more detailed and imaginative than one usually sees from gay artists. Some of these pictures remind me of Patrick Woodroffe’s highly-detailed and florid fantasy paintings.

Update: the site is still active but these particular drawings seem to have been removed.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The gay artists archive
• The fantastic art archive

Ballard on Dalí

Ballard on Dalí
The shock of the old.

The art of LSD

Not art inspired by LSD but drawings done whilst under its influence.

These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD—part of a test conducted by the US government during its dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950s. The artist was given a dose of LSD-25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him.

Then there’s the whole world of blotter art, like this fairly recent Penguin logo example. Lots more blotter designs here and here.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The trip goes on
• Albert Hofmann
• Hep cats

The London Oasis

The London Oasis, first seen on Clerkenwell Green last summer, has been resurrected at the Chelsea Flower Show.

London Oasis opened on 19th June 2006 as a temporary structure on Clerkenwell Green.

Designed by architect Laurie Chetwood, the Oasis is a demonstration of sustainability and renewable energy working with architecture to provide a tranquil oasis for London.

The 12 metre high kinetic structure mimics the design of a growing flower: its photovoltaic “petals” open and close in response to the sun and the moon utilising daylight to generate power. This is supplemented by a hydrogen fuel cell and wind turbine to make it self-sufficient. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling.

At the base, the Oasis has five “pods” inside which people are secluded from the noisy and polluted city surroundings, enjoying cleaner cooled air and relaxing sounds. There are also five further areas providing social rendezvous and venues for entertainment.

The Oasis is “smart” in that it interacts with the environment around it. It senses time, the weather and people, and responds accordingly. At night, it uses energy stored during the day to power a beacon in the form of a light show which responds to the movement of people around.

• Official site
• Guardian feature
• Flickr photos

The art of John Austen, 1886–1948

A few drawings by British illustrator John Austen (1886–1948), like Patten Wilson another artist whose work is hard to come by today. Austen was one of the many young illustrators over whom Aubrey Beardsley’s etiolated shadow fell from 1900 onwards and it’s the first ten years of Austen’s work I find most interesting, mainly because of the Beardsley stylings. He’s not as original or as elegant as Harry Clarke but he’s a lot better than the frequently overrated (yet interesting for other reasons) Hans Henning Voigt, or Alastair as he preferred to be known.

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