All art is subjective. I may not love velvet Elvis tapestries that much – but there are thousands that do. The same impulse that drives someone to purchase a print of the Eiffel tower from Target is the same impulse that drives me to buy a vintage print of the Virgin Mary. I’m just as apt to buy a print because I love the pretty colors (or lack thereof), as I am because it made me laugh or made me a little sad. I have to have a reaction to my art. I am also a firm believer that you need to provide balance in your space and “darker” art is the perfect foil for a sweet or otherwise bland room.
I don’t think of dark art in terms of being Gothic, but I suppose some of the imagery I’ve gathered could be construed that way. The print above is a great example of a botanical print that is that is also edgy. The thick, black frame and the detailed but minimalist illustrative quality of the print make it less sweet than a hand-tinted print of the same type. I envision it in the drawing room of a slightly mad scientist.
I am madly in love with the pomegranate print above. The highly distressed metal frame is a reclaimed ceiling tile which gives it a kind of wizard-meets-Dracula vibe. The silk-screened, bright, blood-red fruit is a fantastic focal point. I see this piece in a neutral or traditional space above a chenille sofa or a super modern brushed steel fireplace. It’s a very modern version of an old still life oil painting.
Illustrations, charcoal drawings and woodcut prints all feel “dark” to me. There is an almost primal, unrefined quality to them that I really love in a room that’s very clean and very fancy. I think it keeps a room humble. It takes everything down a notch and anchors it to something more approachable.
This hand-tinted botanical is made more serious by the hefty, highly embellished , dark wood frame. It’s also extremely old, and the fade to the print gives it soul. I would love a picture like this in an all-white minimalist space. I think it would make the room less spaceship and more human. It would also be phenomenal in a bathroom, as it has that kind of haunted-castle vibe that would be so tongue-in-cheek in a bathroom!
I believe that in order to create an interesting space, you should include objects, art and/or furnishings that challenge the popular notion of what’s “right” and “okay”. The print above is not the sort of floral artwork you’d see in a sun room but I think that’s exactly where it should live. I feel as if it has a ying and yang quality to it in the beauty of the bloom against the jet black background. Art, like everything else in life, should not be homogeneous and boring.
All the best!
Melisa
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