The fantasy-inspired art of Delaware artist J.F. Arsenault is on display in Wilmington.
Bright colors, fantastic scenes, and creatures magical and mythical mark Arsenault’s work. He says his work is a combination of a number of artistic styles.
“I would probably put it in the broader category of imaginative realism," Arsensault explains, "But it also kind of ties into fantasy art, figurative art, dark art, surrealism and a little bit of symbolism. It's kind of a mesh of all these different things that inspired me.”
But, while his work delves into the world of the mythical, not all of those myths are ancient ones. For instance, one painting portrays the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, said in folklore to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his talent.
“One of his songs that he wrote was Hellhound on my Trail, so I did the piece of him sitting on this fence at night playing his guitar with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Meanwhile, there's the hell hounds coming after him,” Arsenault explains.
Arsenault says he hopes viewers come away from seeing his work with a sense of joy.
“I just want them to get lost in the paintings for a moment - to take a little vacation from whatever's going on in their day," he says. "I don't want them to think about anything else other than just being there and having fun with it.”
Arsenault’s work is on display at the Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery at the Carvel State Office building in Wilmington through Friday, April 25.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
