Artists - Part 61

James Gleeson

James Gleeson (1915-2008) was an Australian surrealist painter.  Structural Elements of a Friend, 1949, is a self-portrait (above).

Many of Gleeson's works have references to Greek mythology.  Above, A Little Rape (Ganymede) depicts the myth of the god Zeus as an eagle carrying off the youth Ganymede to become his boy toy on Mt. Olympus. 

Almost all of Gleeson's works depict male nudes.  Above, Nude with Artifact, 1954.  Gleeson was gay, and such depictions of unconcealed male nudity were rare in the mid 20th century.

This is simply called Male Nude.

And this one is Two Male Nudes.  Notice that the backgrounds are becoming strange and surrealistic.  More about that later.

As I said, Gleeson was fond of Greek mythology.  This is Odysseus 4 - The Land of the Cyclops, 1964.  We see the giant Cyclops and the small Greek men, but the background is almost abstract.

This is The Dreams of Icarus, 1981.  In Greek myth, Icarus was the mortal who tried to fly, but he flew too high.  You would think Icarus would dream of flight, but according to Gleeson, he dreamed of naked men, some of whom are anatomically strange.

A final painting from Greek myth: The Gathering at Iolcus - Butes and Phalerus.  Butes and Phalerus were among the Argonauts, or crew members of the ship Argo that took the hero Jason on his quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece.  Again, the figures are photo-realistic, but the background has become strange and surreal.

Eventually, Gleeson called these surreal landscapes "psychoscapes".  Above, Man in Psychoscape, 1975.  

Figure in a Psychoscape.  

Figure in a Psychoscape III.

Figure in a Psychoscape.

We end with yet another Figure in a Psychoscape.  Gleeson painted dozens and dozens of these, but this should be enough to give you the idea of what his work was like.

James Gleeson died in Sydney, Australia in 2008 at age 92.