Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Laurie Lipton's Love Bite

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Ever since Laurie's most famous illustration "Love Bite" went on sale as a print over at The Loyal Subjects, I haven't been able to shake the image out of my head. It's unnerving but really resonates with me on a couple of levels. First, the lady is clearly asian. I've seen her. You see her everytime you go to Chinatown. Those eyes will cut you. I can see the wiry, over-processed hair from too many bad dye jobs. Secondly, I'm always kissing, nibbling and gnawing on my kid's cheeks. It's a weird animalistic thing. But there is no love shown in this illustration. As if the baby's head was an apple. It's horrific and fantastic at the same time. Still available as a 24"x34" print for $199 at the link above.

The Loyal Subjects is proud to announce our collaboration with The Goddess of Graphite, Laurie Lipton. TLS and Ms. Lipton have teamed up to produce a limited giclee of her most infamous image, LOVE BITE : a brutally jarring version of a Mother & Child. The strength and power of this work is amplified by Laurie Lipton's painstakingly obsessive observation and skill demonstrated by the zillions of pencil strokes that create her art. It is truly an astounding piece.

This image is evocative of Grimm's fairy tales where the children are eaten by the witch, or Goya's "Saturn Eating His Children". It is the nightmare fear that every infant feels when an Aunt leans over, pinches his cheek, licks her lips and exclaims, "Oh! I could just EAT you!!!" LOVE BITE is widely recognized and has appeared as tattoos, in fan art and in the media. It is certainly a work that strikes a chord with everyone and seeps its way into the darkest recesses of our subconscious minds.

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