The "Unheimliche" (the uncanny) in Art - When artists carry you out of the Comfort Zone

On the fringes of the 3rd Art-Trail Contest - with its "Uncanny/unsettling" category - I want to share some images of great artworks that, in my opinion, could fall under that category.

I used the german word "Unheimliche" because it has a technical meaning that comes from Freud's terminology, and because the root of that word ("un-heim", "not home") means, more or less, "what is out of one's comfort zone". When a great artist leaves his comfort zone and digs deeply in his fears and his disturbances, what he finds concerns everyone, his time, the society he lives in.

This is "Without hope" by Frida Khalo (source)

And this is Mark Ryden, painter and illustrator, "Jasper Ridin"  (source)

But where is the border between the research in the Uncanny and the simple desire to shock to gain visibility and fame? That border is hidden in the mist of the Art Market ;)

More examples:

This is a painting by japanese artist  Fuyuko Matsui: "Matsui scattered"

And this is one of the famous embalmed animals by Damien Hirst, "This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed at home " (source).  (Where is the border?)

But the precursors of this kind of Art are two masters: Pieter Bruegel the Elder and (for the modern age) Francisco Goya. Everyone knows the triptitch of the "Last Judgement" by Bosch (here a detail) (source)

The "Black paintings" (source) by Goya are also very famous, and also his "Caprichos" (source)

This very short travel in the uncanny art ends here. 

What subjects are disturbing and uncomfortable for you?

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Bye.

@paolobeneforti

www.paolobeneforti.it