What Is Pop Surrealism? Where Candy Decay Actually Fits In
Claudia SchmidtPeople ask me what "kind" of art Candy Decay actually is, and the honest, art history answer is pop surrealism, sometimes called lowbrow art. It is a real, established movement, not just an aesthetic label, and knowing the term makes it a lot easier to find more art you will like.
Where pop surrealism comes from
The movement grew out of underground comic art, tattoo art and illustration in California from the 1970s onward, deliberately outside the gallery mainstream, hence lowbrow. It mixes pop culture references, cartoon style figures and technical painting skill with a surreal or slightly dark twist, often with humor sitting right next to something uncomfortable.
"Weird Pigeon" is a fairly direct example of the style: a cartoon like animal, painted with real technical control, doing something that does not quite make sense.
How Candy Decay fits into it
My own color system and love of packed detail line up with pop surrealism's usual traits: saturated color, pop culture and food references, cute animals doing strange things, and a level of craft that is meant to be taken seriously even when the subject is a pigeon eating pizza.
Where to look for more
If pop surrealism or lowbrow art is the term that finally describes what you like, the full wall art collection is a good place to keep looking, and my piece on finding my art style goes into how Candy Decay itself came together.