Matt Lifson

According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Statistics I Just Made Up, in all of recorded history there have been exactly 90 bajillion pieces of art depicting the glories of youth. Common subheadings for this topic include beauty, simplicity, and unselfconscious creativity. Matt Lifson, though he treads this familiar-yet-magical territory which countless visionaries have charted before, manages to distinguish himself in a very important and particular aspect: INTENSITY.

What’s this difference between imagination and hallucination? Flirtation and eroticism? Sparring and combat? Even as an adult the boundary can be uncomfortably vague, but when you’re young oftentimes you know either too much or not enough to make a strong distinction. Even when it’s play, it’s real. That’s the sentiment which Lifson captures so well.

A strapping lad gives his costumed friend a piggy-back ride through an open field followed by animals and glowing orbs while, off to the side, a bush spontaneously combusts. An adolescent’s decapitated head tokes a crucifix joint next to a pepperoni and mushroom pizza sliced into a pentagram. The slip cover for a VHS copy of Lost Boys is painted over, casting a weird veil over Kiefer and the Cories which still can’t hide their piercing red eyes. Even though there are elements of these pieces which beg not to be taken seriously, they evoke something very real and powerful.

via ctrl+w33d.