Mental Floss

14 Great Examples of Geeky Fine Art

Jill Harness|

Fine art is alive and well, and artists often incorporate the fun aspects of pop culture—particularly the geek side of the spectrum.

1. Headless Chicken

Internet Week New York asked artists and students if they could draw the internet. The results were quite eclectic, but Barbara Ana Gomez’s submission nailed it on the head in a highly artistic manner.

2. It’s Murray Time

Casey Weldon made these portraits of Bill Murray playing all of Royal Tenenbaums for the “Bad Dads” art show at the Lopo gallery in San Francisco. Prints are available on his website.

3. Wisdom of the Llama

Apparently, Bill Murray is a good subject for geek painters, as evidenced by N.C. Winters' great portrait casting the actor in a religious light. Prints can be purchased at the Gallery 1988 website.

4. In The Garden of Audrey

Allison Sommers painted this renaissance-styled picture of Audrey from the Little Shop of Horrors for Gallery 1988’s “Crazy 4 Cult 5,” their fifth art show dedicated to cult classic films.

5. Da Doo Dionaea

For the same “Crazy 4 Cult 5” show, Scott Scheidly also painted a portrait of Audrey, although his version involved a detailed portrayal of her anatomy.

6. England 932 A.D.

If you’ve ever wondered what Monty Python and The Holy Grail would look like when portrayed in the art style of the time of the film’s setting, then Max Dalton’s contribution to the “Crazy 4 Cult 5” show should answer your question.

7. The First Goonie

This Goonies-inspired pirate piece was Eric Braddock’s submission into the “Crazy 4 Cult 5” show.

8. Hello, Mr. Skeksis

While the Dark Crystal may be one of the lesser-known Jim Henson films, the evil Skeksis are just scary (yet regal) enough to make a perfect subject for a geeky fine art painting. This wonderful creation was made by Leontine Greenberg.

9. Andy Dick

Gallery 1988 doesn’t limit its shows to cult movies. Their “Is This Thing On” show revolved around artist-interpretations of famous comedians. As far as fine art goes, none of the paintings were nearly as upscale as this rendition of Andy Dick as a sad clown by Chet Zar.

10. Prince Holds the Katamari On His Shoulders

Flickr user Everfalling created this cool bronze sculpture for one of his classes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. It’s a seamless blending of the classic myth of Atlas and the delightfully non sequitur game of Katamari.

11. Ascension of the Kenny

This iconic portrait of Kenny was Beau Stanton’s contribution to the South Park 15th Anniversary Art Exhibition in at the Opera Gallery in New York. Laughing Squid’s Scott Beale has more great photos of the show for those interested.

12. Link

Perhaps one of the more underappreciated classic artistic creations are the gorgeous stained glass masterpieces that adorn the ancient chapels of Europe. In the geek renaissance, these artworks are getting the attention they deserve, thanks to stained glass artists like Lynda Macrae of The Glass House in Canada. Here you can see her beautiful version of the Link from Zelda recreated in stained glass, as designed by Kelli Nelson and photographed by Flickr user SevenCubed.

13. The Scream

To be fair, the last two on this list are not at all like the others. Instead of involving geek-subjects portrayed in fine art, they instead offer a classic fine art reimagined using geeky media.

This first piece shows Bernard Pras, who recreated Edvard Munch‘s classic painting, “The Scream,” through the use of electrical wiring, transistor circuit boards and a variety of recycled junk (including a Scream movie mask).

14. Oreo Cameos

These gorgeous and classical cameos are sculpted from the cream of Oreo cookies by artist Judith G. Klausner. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to eat art so badly.