Benedict Oddi

Here's a contemporary artist that I just discovered... Benedict Oddi, of Pittsburgh, PA.  His website can be reached here!  In particular I enjoy the paintings listed under his "Eternal Escape Unknown" heading. These paintings are of a surrealist nature, and we can see the possible influence of several different artists here.  Primarily Oddi's works are reminiscent of Yves Tanguy, except that they contain more lurid color.  His painting "F Your Sailboat" also reminds me of a Roberto Matta work, with its possible depiction of the landscape of the mind.  The bird figure in "Flight of Icarus" is suggestive of the same expressionless animal seen in several of Salvador Dali's paintings, such as "Little Ashes", in combination with Dali's frequent self portrait in which he paints himself face downwards and with a distinctive nose, as in The Great Masturbator.  Also the bird seems to be evocative of the figures found in Joan Miro's famous painting "Dog Barking at the Moon", with the primarily white body marked by splashes of color.  Anyway, lots of influences here!  Or so it seems to me.  If I get out to the Pittsburgh area one day, I wouldn't mind looking up this artist and maybe catching an available show.