Exquisite Corpse Surrealist Pencil

Original Exquisite Corpse Surrealist Drawing Karena Karras & Bernard Dumaine "Harbinger" ....  Originally entitled " Harbinger " now r e-titled to "Harbinger, Rise of the Mimics" This is a very well known piece and if you type in the old title "Harbinger" and the artists names online you will get a number of different sites that are selling giclees of this piece - It has also been published on the cover of a book by the two artists and poet Anthony Mason My camera is not the best so some of the photos show better than others but there is an amazing amount of detail in this piece and it will pack a punch and be quite a conversation piece when hung on your wall W hen This is the original 'exquisite corpse ' piece done on illustration board in pencil by artists Bernard Dumaine and Karena Karras while Karras lived in the US and Dumaine lived in France this drawing as well as the other ' exquisite corpse ' drawings done by the two artists were first finished by one of them and then the area was covered with paper except for a 1/4" edge and then shipped across the Atlantic to the other artist to be finished without that one looking at what the other one had already drawn - When the piece was finished by one or the other of the artist it was then to be uncovered by the one who finished it and was then posted by them on Facebook originally - Now there are giclée's being sold in different places online by both of these artists but this one is one of the original drawings before there was any computer enhancement or coloring done later which is what is seen in the giclée's of this and other works There are computer colored giclees of this original drawing being sold online for 300.00 and up Most of the Surrealist 'Exquisite Corpse' original drawings that were done together by Bernard Dumaine and Karena Karras (close friend of Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington) are black and white pencil drawings. There is amazingly fine detail in this drawing and both of the two artists are well-known worldwide for their surrealist imagery. This technique called the "Exquisite Corpse" was invented by the original surrealists and is similar to an old parlor game called 'consequences' in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing or drawing, and then pass it to the next person for a further contribution. Surrealism's principal founder Andre Breton said that it "started in fun", but now the surrealist drawings done in this manner are seen as serious high art - The name is derived from a phrase that resulted when Surrealists first played the game, "Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau." ("The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.") One of the books where this image is printed in is "Rebirth of the Exquisite Corpse" by Anthony Mason which is also a collection of surreal poetry accompanied by the exclusive collaborative drawings of surreal artists Bernard Dumaine and Karena Karras.  There are 56 pages to this book and it is available online.

Colored

giclée's of this image can also be found for sale online - The last photo in this listing is the enhanced colorized version of it that you will see online, but the original is much softer and not colored or enhance

I will be adding more photos of better quality when I can 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS: Karena Karras Born in Chicago Karras has lived there for most of her life. She graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her paintings clearly reference the imagery and style of those of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington. Karena became a close friend of the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington when Carrington resided in Oak Park, Illinois, in the late 1980s. While she draws on the surreal imagery of Carrington and Varo, she also has a considerable grasp of classical mythology, and an understanding of depth psychology. Her paintings often focus on a simple central image which has an archetypal import. Karras seems to use the Jungian method of bringing to consciousness, through dream analysis and dream journaling, enigmatic imagery in which the human form is metamorphosed or placed into a transformative situation within the painting space. Some of her imagery can be seen to have an alchemical aspect. Karass has reported that her work sometimes arises from decalcomania, where she applies paint to a gessoed board and then blots it with various materials, leaving behind interesting shapes, which suggest images for her painting. This surrealist device was used by Oscar Dominguez and Max Ernst in the 1930s. She almost exclusively paints female figures, often wearing masks, or with their heads depicted as bird forms. She is particularly drawn to depicting swan women. Her paintings are meticulously executed using small brushes to give great detail and she extensively uses glazes which makes her work luminous. She is also very accomplished at drawing. Bernard Dumaine: Bernard Dumaine was born in Angouleme, France, where he still lives and works. His paintings use the flowing metamorphosis of forms that arise out of biomorphism. Some of his works seem clearly influenced by the early surrealist paintings of Johfra, particularly the motif of the eye on a stalk. In many of his work he pushes figuration towards a surrealist abstraction. His skill at pencil drawing is astounding and this mastery of depicting form can be seen in his meticulous paintings, and no doubt help structure his digital artwork. He revived, in a modern way, the surrealist device of the exquisite corpse, collaborating on painting, often digital and usually with one artist at a time, painting one half of the work before passing it on to the other to complete. These collaborations often produced very coherent artworks, with no clear transition between Dumaine's work and his collaborator. He wrote: "I like to explore a lot of mediums, from traditional to digital, my favorite tool remaining the 'old' pencil...My main inspiration comes from Surrealism; I am actually enjoying a lot making 'exquisite corpses' with international artists and experimenting in video animation as well." Please Note:  I am one of the artists and I have the only original of this particular drawing   -   Bernard Dumaine has 6 other originals that we did together - please do not trust anyone else saying they are selling originals of my work online unless it is Bernard Dumaine himself who is selling it or someone he gave leave to do so, without checking with me first to be sure they are not trying to sell you a fake and are calling it an original   ---  Drawing comes without mat or frame just as the artist has had it stored since it was done  Please ask all questions before buying and I will be happy to answer you or even send photo close-ups   of a specific area if you would like as on this type of item I do not accept returns USPS priority shipping includes insurance and tracking