The artwork
#animals #humor #Matthew Grabelsky #portraits #surrealism
February 2, 2023
Grace Ebert
![A painted portrait of a horse-human riding the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-1.jpg)
“Giddy Up” (2022), oil on canvas, 14 × 16 inches. All photos courtesy of Thinkspace Tasks, shared with permission
Urbanites know that the subway is a good location to find town’s quirks, and but a date with one among Matthew Grabelsky’s characters could be a very wild encounter. The Los Angeles-based artist has spent the previous few years depicting human-animal hybrids casually driving public transportation. Generally snacking on a cookie or brushing up on some studying, the characters are surreal, quirky additions to an in any other case mundane scene.
Grabelsky’s latest oil work, that are at the moment on view as a part of the Wasps from The Model Library & Artwork Heart in Glendale, California, are hyper-realistic and laced with witty element, much like earlier works within the collection. Set on the New York subway and the London Underground, the portraits are narrative-driven and embedded with popular culture references. The artist shares:
My objective is to create the impact of taking a look at a subway scene as if it had been a diorama at a pure historical past museum. The pictures current richly detailed moments frozen in time, permitting the viewer to carefully examine every ingredient and make connections between them to learn an total story. On this world, persons are reworked into part-animals to create unusual, humorous and daring scenes.
Organized by Thinkspace Tasks, Wasps is on the market till March 17. You could find an in depth assortment of Grabelsky’s commuters on his web site and Instagram.
![A painted portrait of a man-ape hybrid father and son riding the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-4.jpg)
“Curious George Takes A Prepare” (2022), oil on canvas, 16 × 20 inches
![Left, a painted portrait of a crow-woman figure on the subway, right, a painted portrait of a parrot-woman figure eating crackers on the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-6.jpg)
Left: “Crow-Magnon” (2022), oil on canvas, 28 × 38 inches. Proper: “Polly Wanna Cracker” (2022), oil on canvas, 24 × 36 inches
![A painted portrait of a dog-human hybrid riding the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-2.jpg)
“Texas Maintain’em” (2022), oil on canvas, 12 × 16 inches
![Left: A painted portrait of a wolf-man hybrid riding the subway. Right: A painted portrait of two panda-human hybrids riding the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-7.jpg)
Left: “An American Werewolf In London” (2022), oil on canvas, 24 × 32 inches. Proper: “Sichuan Categorical” (2022), oil on canvas, 14 × 20 inches
![A painted portrait of a human bat riding the subway](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/grabelsky-5.jpg)
“Gotham Native” (2022), oil on canvas, 12 × 16 inches
#animals #humor #Matthew Grabelsky #portraits #surrealism
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