One of the most comforting things about a fairy tale is that it’s usually pretty easy to tell who the bad guys are. Gnarled faces, cackling laughs, abnormal love of black clothing, and enough ambitious, deeply evil schemes to make even a Bond villain take a moral pause — these are the not-so-subtle signs that certain characters can’t be trusted. Of course, this moral simplicity is also the fairy tale’s downfall, as kids are soon told that “real life” isn’t so clear-cut.
But as kids leave behind the black and white of fantasy, they also lose the genre’s enchantment: cool little elves, princesses, or miniature tree houses. This kind of magic isn’t any more realistic than the evildoer who announces himself through his creepy, glowing red eyeball, but really, it’s so much fun! There has to be a place for magic in the grown up world.
California artist Greg “Craola” Simkins brings his take on magic with adult complexity to the FIFTY24SF Gallery this month with the Don’t Sleep show. This collection of paintings and drawings features the kind of elfin, impish creatures common in fairy tales, complete with an enchanted landscape of forests, butterflies, and dewy meadows.
But these aren’t sweet little frogs just waiting to be turned back into the prince who will then marry you and whisk you away to a life of castles and splendor. Actually, it’s better. These weird, twisted creatures have hints of darkness lurking behind them. They are awkward and gangly, with glowing yellow eyes and sullen faces. Simkins ups the complexity by placing his monster-sprites in elaborate and gorgeous worlds, under glowing dollops of ice cream sundae clouds, and posed in front of adorable cottages and treehouses.
This art could easily fall into the type of intentionally creepy, Ryden-esque art currently flooding galleries (and drowning my patience for one more painting of a big-eyed girl). But Simkins has much more to say with his work than the boring “that looks cool” pleasure so common in hipster art. Simkins is an expert at using intriguing symbols to both entertain and provoke the viewer. Don’t Sleep exhibits his skill in not only turning the usual sweetie pie imagery of fantasy on its head, but in working an almost literary irony out of the symbols.