Back in 2009 I fell in love with contemporary illustration art magazine HiFructose, a relatively new endeavor, named ostensibly as a hat-tip to the visually-saturated and colorful progeny of “Under the Counter Culture” art it showcases.  Initially I was drawn to it hook line and sinker one night at a NYC Barnes & Noble scouring for inspiration, when lo and behold poking out from the rack, what do I see? A young child’s face wreathed in tangled hair, sans body, floating in a bleak winter space.   What’s not to love?   Aye, a Mark Ryden, the pleasure of whom I had not yet been acquainted.

Some Featured Artists:

The displaced flora and faunae habituating cross-sectioned environmentalism of Josh Keyes

The downcast violence-possessed bears and bunnies of Luke Cheuh

The tongue in cheek chibi manga girls of Yoshitomo Nara

The Francis Bacon + postmodern soft core horror of Chet Zar

The spooky see-thru bubble people of Jinyoung Yu

The psychedelic spaghetti-western disemboweling characters of Charles Immer

And the soon-to-be-timeless Mark Ryden.  (Who, incidentally will be showing in NYC in a few months)

Next time you’re at the magazine rack, I highly recommend you flip through a few pages. I dare you not to fall in love.