Brian Blomerth’s Graphic Novel Tells the Tale of the First Acid Trip

By Brooklyn-based artist Brian Blomerth, Bicycle Day documents the day LSD was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann. As the story goes: he ingested the experimental compound and then set off on the first documented trip, which culminated in a peak while he was riding home on his bicycle. Hofmann’s book LSD: My Problem Child, affords only a few paragraphs about the first encounter. As …

Ryan Hewett’s “New Paintings” at Unit London

11 works of brooding portraiture and figurative anatomy

A geometric extension of the eerie, abstract portraiture that South African painter Ryan Hewett presented at Unit London back in 2016, New Paintings sees 11 provocative pieces take the spotlight. Hewett’s fourth exhibition with the gallery broadens the artist’s subject matter to include complex, figurative anatomy. Together, layers of tone and form birth colorful characters that truly captivate. Hewett’s latest happens to also mark the occasion of Unit London’s one year …

The Elusive Smile in Art History

It’s a common misconception that the reason subjects in portraits of yesteryear didn’t smile is because of unappealing looking teeth. In fact, the reason is quite logical: smiling for hours on end is awkward and straining for models. In an essay on the topic, writer Nicholas Jeeves says, “A smile is like a blush. It is a response, not an expression per se, and so …