The SF Examiner just published this story on Bay Area-based painter and illustrator Isabel Samaras. Her works on canvas–and on metal lunchboxes!–put a funky, contemporary spin on classic works of fine art by "re-casting" great masterworks with pop culture icons and characters from television sitcoms. Check out her online gallery here, and her posters (suitable for framin'… and holiday givin') here. Excerpt from the Examiner story:
Samaras' lunch boxes depict Catwoman, Batgirl and Batman in humorous, "fairly sexy, quasi-pornographic" positions, juxtaposing elements of childhood and adulthood and attempting to destigmatize porn.
Her more recent paintings go a step farther, re-telling forgotten parables from bygone eras using characters that have a modern resonance, as well as their own mythologies — characters from popular TV shows like "The Avengers," "The Addams Family," "Star Trek," "Bewitched," "Gilligan's Island," "I Dream of Jeannie," "The Munsters" and "The Six Million Dollar Man."
"On old TV shows, there is a denial of sexual appeal," she says, adding that women often are denied simple pleasures — "Bewitched's" Darrin won't let Samantha use magic to perform domestic chores; "I Dream of Jeannie's" skimpily dressed heroine is kept in a bottle and must answer to her "Master."
