Liz McGrath

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My Daddy is 100% Irish so I had to do an Irish blog. I was going to post a recipe, but Irish food sucks! Thank God my Mom's side of the family is Italian! Ha! So I thought I should write about Liz McGrath today...she's Irish...and she Rocks! Does Elizabeth McGrath really need an introduction? She's the Queen of the Pop Surrealism scene!



Pop Surrealism aka Lowbrow Art has it's roots in early the Surrealist and Dada movements. It started to develop into a notable art movement decades ago, spawned from Southern California hotrods ("Kustom Kars") and surf culture. Ed ("Big Daddy") Roth is frequently credited with getting Lowbrow, as a movement, underway by creating Rat Fink in the late 1950s. During the 60's, Lowbrow (not known as such, then) branched out into underground Comix. Artists such as Zap, Robert Crumb, Victor Moscoso, S. Clay Wilson and Robert Williams. Lowbrow Art has been assigned a "circa" of 1994, as that is the year that the aforementioned Robert Williams founded Juxtapoz magazine. Juxtapoz showcases Lowbrow artists and is currently the second best-selling art magazine in the U.S. Over the years, Lowbrow has unapologetically picked up influences from classic cartoons, 60's TV sitcoms, psychedelic rock, punk rock and goth music, pulp art, soft porn, comic books, sci-fi, "B" (or lower) horror movies, tattoos, Japanese anime and black velvet Elvis, among many other "subcultural" offerings. Lowbrow was born of underground or "street" culture.

But back to McGrath...she's one little powerhouse. Aside from being an AMAZING multi-media artist, she also manages to find time to rock out with her Hubby in their band Miss Derringer. Her art is just amazing. She creates beautifully grotesque creatures with just the right dose of whimsy. She is master of faux taxidermy. She creates the beasts from resin, fake fur, and fake leather layered over taxidermy forms and beautified with paint, roofing tar, and hand-sewn fabric. Her dioramas are to die for! Lovely little spooky detailed sideshow attractions. Every tiny detail handmade! But the one below is my favorite! A Victorian dollhouse mounted onto the back of a faux taxidermy, two-headed deer!



Check out her website to view her current body of work. Don't forget to look at her art archives. She also has cute affordable stuff in her shop! And if you still can't get enough, buy her Art Book, "Everything That Creeps", for your coffee table!