Surrealistic Animals - Michael Ritchie  

Yes?! depicts a meerkat peering out over a partitioned desk. The meerkat’s left facing of the desk is covered in figurines, photographs, and clippings. While the right side is bare in comparison and features two blank pieces of paper, a caution sign and a black playbill. The variety of this work guides, and notifies the viewer of the traditional office setting and the theme of surrealism is driven home with the meerkat in place of a human.

13 Attempts to Become a Rooster – 5, represents a caricature of napoleon in his traditional stance but with a rooster’s head. This caricature is placed in front of Chateau de Malmaison. The Chateau is perfectly symmetrical and is reflected around the caricature of napoleon. The theme of surrealism is made apparent with the rather large rooster head upon napoleon.

Sunday PM 4 features a lion resting within a comforter upon a blue bed. The walls are bare, and only feature a sliding window with a night stand under it. The night stand has upon it a telephone and various other objects. The asymmetrical balance of the piece draws the viewer’s eyes to the lion, window, and nightstand. This surrealistic piece could be playing upon the term ‘taking a cat nap’.

The Purple Wind 1 contains a cat mindlessly in a daydream, with butterflies fluttering around a floral record player. All of these elements are placed together in an endless green field. With the use of bright and floral colors in this surreal scene, a rhythm is created. This rhythm creates a whimsical energy and movement to the piece.

Time For the Lambs depicts a sleeping person upon a blue bed, with a sliding window, a small clock and a trash can full of balled up ideas. Above these elements lays a group of lambs resting upside down. Playing upon the theme of counting sheeps, this surrealistic piece contains balance with the symmetry of the wall shape and the mass of the sheeps above.

Bird Bath features two plague doctors spraying and cleaning a pink dodo-like bird. Within the landscape is another doctor carrying a bird and a brown house is represented with a massive bird-like window. The ominous rhythm of this surrealistic piece is created with the use of muted color and heavy subject matter, plague doctors.

The Beginning of June depicts a group of men on a scaffold plastering a Coca-Cola billboard within a dingy room, inhabited by a polar bear. There is an obvious somber and ominous unity to this surrealistic piece with the use of a polar bear, Coca-Cola’s mascot. This is a commentary of the melting polar ice caps and the decreasing hospitable environment for polar bears.

When Afternoon Melt Down, contains a giraffe peering through a sliding window, melting over two cops investigating a person sprawled across a bed. This surrealism of this piece is furthered through the variety of the elements, from the curious cops, to the lifeless person and most importantly by the curiously strange melting giraffe.

Camel and Man depicts a stylized and metallic man walking through metallic drapery. This is all contained within a spliced camel statue. This surrealistic statue contains a sense of unity amongst its parts. The harmony between the metallic man and the statuesque camel creates a sense of integrity within the piece.

Going Out features a hyena exiting through a dingy doorway. Behind the hyena upon the porch is a bicycle and a long wire wrapped poll. The emphasis of this piece is placed upon the hyena. This focus further plays upon the theme of surrealism and the traditional activities of a human.