Fantasy, the overlooked art movement
“The only difference between me and a madman is
that I’m not mad.”
– Salvador Dali
When an artist’s creativity overflows into new ideas that would never have occurred to the majority of us, it’s when a fantasy artwork emerges.
Did you know that as a genre, fantasy art does not receive formal recognition and legitimacy like other art movements?
Historically, fantasy art is rooted in mythology, folklore and religious art. It can be track back to Greek mythology, Christian mythology, Chinese folklore, various cultural traditions, and African myths and superstitions regarding magic.
It is a mixture of imagination and a direct observation of reality. Fantasy art takes reality and adds an unrealistic, fantastic, dreamy, wistful feeling to it.
“El Atlántico y su Encargada del Tiempo” belongs to my Fantasy of Time series. This painting is a merge of three marine scenes with imaginary creatures. The Caribbean Sea, a Phosphorescent Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean surround my island. One of the most sublime experiences in my life is when I go scuba diving, and this artwork is my tribute to those beautiful bodies of water. When I’m underwater, time doesn’t exist. I wanted to capture that feeling in this painting.
Do you think fantasy art is the result of artists with wild imaginations?
-Pablo Montes
