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signifier.bsky.social
Signifier
@signifier.bsky.social
180 followers 20 following 640 posts

quality writing on : art : design : media
also The Signifier : six : shot : gallery

🌐 https://medium.com/signifier

Editor & Curator: @remydean.bsky.social‬
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signifier.bsky.social
'The Nymphs & Satyrs of Bouguereau'

"Local moralists protested, scared about the effect such a lude pagan image was having on the ladies it attracted & perhaps the fact it had been bought & hung by a convicted murderer"

@remydean.bsky.social uncovers an #art mystery

🐐 medium.com/signifier/th...
preparatory figure study (detail) for the satyr by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
January 15, 2026 at 5:37 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🎥 🐎 🚀

'It’s Still Moving' - before #film could become an #art medium, technology had to be invented & the conventions of #cinema set-out

@remydean.bsky.social looks back to the first 'motion pictures'

🎞️ medium.com/signifier/it...

#movies #ArtHistory #design #history #photography
four film frames: two from ‘The Great Train Robbery’ (1903) of a cowboy looking into camera with a raised pistol and cowboys giving chase on horseback; three uniformed men arrest another man in hat and long dark coat in a still image from ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ (1906); and a colour-restored image the hand-coloured version of ‘A Trip to the Moon’ (1902).
January 9, 2026 at 3:15 PM
signifier.bsky.social
#InternationalChoreographersDay

🕺 "So, how does one know if it’s #HomeDance? As styles are so varied & there are no rules... @remydean.bsky.social gives us a few pointers of what to look for in a performance..."

💃 medium.com/signifier/ho...

🧸 #咬人猫 😸 #Dance 🩰 #Music 🎶 #Yaorenmao 💝 #宅舞
Home Dance & the Biting Cat
Celebrating the energising art of Yaorenmao and a joyous Chinese subculture that knows no bounds
medium.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Signifier
remydean.bsky.social
love the poster 🐩 betting the #exhibition is well worth a visit for those in the #Tokyo area 🎀 #illustration #イラスト #animals #music #dogs #art
nanaekawahara.bsky.social 河原 奈苗 🐶 Nanae Kawahara→1/15〜27個展📍にじ画廊 @nanaekawahara.bsky.social · 29d
🌟EXHIBITION🌟
河原奈苗 個展「The PARK」
2026年1月15日(木)〜1月27日(火)
📍にじ画廊
🕰️12:00〜20:00
⚠️21日(水)休み/最終日〜18時

今回はポジティブだったりネガティブだったりそんなみんなが集うPARKの絵を展示します。ぜひお越し下さい🙏
🔗 nanaekawahara.blogspot.com/2025/12/exhi...

My solo show "The Park" in Tokyo in Jan. Exhibiting illustration arts of gathering positive&negative things✨
河原奈苗 個展「The PARK」のメインビジュアル #イラスト The main illustration of the exhibition "The PARK" by a Japanese illustrator Nanae Kawahara, gonna be held from 15 Jan to 27 Jan 2026 at Niji Garo in Tokyo. #illustration #art
January 8, 2026 at 1:55 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🧛 ⚰️ 🦇

'Visualising #Vampires The Undead in Art & Culture'

OliviA considers some ancient & modern representations that influenced our perception of these bloodthirsty fiends

🩸 medium.com/signifier/vi...

#art #ArtHistory #horror #history #illustration #movies
details from two illustrations: ‘Les Vampires’ aka ‘Vampire Grave’ (1820) etching by Berthe, printed in ‘History of Vampires and Evil Ghosts, With an Examination of Vampirism’ (1820) and ‘Le Vampire’ (1864) lithograph by René de Moraine - the following description is taken from article via link in post: "The artist of Les Vampires, whose identity is attributed to a signature reading Berthe, employs bold hatching and linework, creating a tension in the texture that imbues the scene with an uneasy atmosphere. The interplay of dramatic light and dark values explores a world suspended between reality and nightmare, where the boundaries between life and death collapse... In one swift plunge, the figure in the centre of Le Vampire (1864) drives a stake into the skeletal remains before him. Despite his wide-eyed, reluctant grimace, he remains determined to exonerate the beast which torments from beyond the grave. The figures in the background, shrouded in shadow and softened by the artist’s careful gradation of light — appear spectral and eerie, evoking an unsettling mood. They may be witnesses but their indistinct forms evoke the notion of lingering spirits, blurring the division between the world of the living and of the dead."
January 8, 2026 at 1:41 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🎨 💦 🏜️

'David Hockney’s Photographic Art'

Rodrigo S-C explores how Britain's favourite #artist, often cited as “the greatest living painter,” changed photography & influenced his own work...

🛑 medium.com/signifier/he...

#photography #art #ArtHistory
description taken from article via link in post: "All elements in Pearblossom Highway - road signs, shrubs, and discarded drink cans - are deliberately emphasised, flattened, or distorted. Through collage, David constructs the image with a clear visual hierarchy. For instance, the STOP sign is rendered oversized and forcefully assertive. Rather than guiding the viewer toward a single vanishing point, the composition directs attention across the entire picture plane. Consequently, the road functions not as a device of spatial recession, but as a cohesive formal element in the composition."
January 5, 2026 at 12:34 PM
signifier.bsky.social
The Bread is the Life: Many artists have used the humble loaf of bread to speak of survival, cultural identity, transcendent spirit

@kimvertue.bsky.social considers this staple source of sustenance with a particular focus on Salvador Dali's bread-based obsession

🍞 medium.com/signifier/th... #art
‘Basket of Bread, Rather Death than Shame’ (1945) a painting by Salvador Dali. The basket of bread is given a stark black background and it is poised at the edge of the wooden table, which gives precarious dynamism and strength to the image.
January 5, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Reposted by Signifier
signifier.bsky.social
'First Photographer of the American West'

@remydean.bsky.social celebrates Carlton Watkins & the pioneering photographers of the virgin territories who nurtured a desire to conserve the natural beauty of America’s majestic West

🌄 medium.com/signifier/fi...

#landscape #photography #art #History
‘Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley’ by Carlton Watkins, probably photographed in the late 1870s [courtesy National Library of Wales] a sepia tinted photograph of a flat open area surrounded by trees before high cliffs and an impressive waterfall
January 3, 2026 at 12:08 PM
signifier.bsky.social
'First Photographer of the American West'

@remydean.bsky.social celebrates Carlton Watkins & the pioneering photographers of the virgin territories who nurtured a desire to conserve the natural beauty of America’s majestic West

🌄 medium.com/signifier/fi...

#landscape #photography #art #History
‘Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley’ by Carlton Watkins, probably photographed in the late 1870s [courtesy National Library of Wales] a sepia tinted photograph of a flat open area surrounded by trees before high cliffs and an impressive waterfall
January 3, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Reposted by Signifier
remydean.bsky.social
🐇 🐇 🐇

Happy New Year 🥂
Best Wishes for 2026! 🚀

#landscape #photography from #Eryri
landscape photograph by Remy Dean of a series of headlands, ridges and valleys fading to the distant mists in a way similar to a classical Chinese scroll painting... and may be a metaphor of the future as an indistinct terrain that solidifies as we approach
January 1, 2026 at 5:28 AM
signifier.bsky.social
⚔️ 🍺 🐲

'Beowulf versus Grendel, the Rematch!'

@remydean.bsky.social traces the long legacy of our earliest novel & asks, “Was Grendel wrongly vilified?”

medium.com/signifier/be...

#literature #folklore #fantasy #illustration #comics
‘The Genealogical Tree’ and ‘Beowulf and the Dragon’ (1931) two lithographic prints by Rockwell Kent - on the left, two figures sit beneath the branches of a leafless trio of trees and the right depicts Beowulf with shield raised and sword in hand facing the dragon.
December 27, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Signifier
signifier.bsky.social
🎄 🦞 🎅

"Suddenly #Christmas was a tradition & the 1st British Christmas card was sent in 1843 by Henry Cole..."

'Tis the Season to be Surreal - Surrealists will celebrate all around the world & you could be one of them, explains @remydean.bsky.social

⭐ medium.com/signifier/ti...

#illustration
the first Christmas card: "...frames to each side of the main image do suggest what the people may be thinking about — but it established another new tradition of artists being involved with the popular culture of Christmas. It also caused much indignation at the time because one of the details seems to be a mother offering wine to an infant which offended the moralists of the burgeoning temperance movement" - more in article via link in post
December 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Signifier
remydean.bsky.social
'A Horse for Andrei Tarkovsky'
(photograph ©2015)

#art #landscape #photography #snow #horse
landscape photograph by Remy Dean of a snow-covered hillside during a heavy snowfall where a horse can be seen through the snow as a small dark from against white
December 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
signifier.bsky.social
Selected #art writing from the Signifier team: transgressive stained glass, mothers' love, still life, living life long, ghosts, #illustration, collage, #kawaii culture & Remy on Remy + more!

Our Winter #Solstice 2025 🎄 Newsletter has dispatched!

Are you Signified?

medium.com/signifier/a-...
A Yuletide Writer Round-up
Welcome to Your Winter Solstice Special Edition of Signified
medium.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🎄 🎀 🎅

'Seasonal Sentimentality' A quick look at the visual culture of commercial #Christmas in search of the most reproduced popular image… not an easy answer. What's your best guess?

🎁 medium.com/signifier/wh...

#art #design #illustration
detail of the painting ‘Christmas at Home’ (c.1950) by Grandma Moses shows a large room with lots of people and Christmas goings on - there's a Santa and a decorated tree, lots of snacky stuff laid out on tables and children playing with pets...
December 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
signifier.bsky.social
our editor & curator suggests some readings of his writings
mainly on #art #movies & #culture 🎨 🎬🌸
remydean.bsky.social Remy Dean 🏴‍☠️ @remydean.bsky.social · 26d
🎻 🎥 💃

'Get to Know Remy by Reading Remy'
the art, films & oshi that have made me what I am today

over 8 years, I've written 555+ articles on Medium which tend to be in-depth pieces about #media #music & #movies, classic & contemporary

🖼️ medium.com/@remydean/ge...

#cinema #JPop #咬人猫 #宅舞 #art
9 thumbnail images - (Left-Right) Top: ‘Kwaidan’, ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Middle: ‘The Medusa Touch’, Yaorenmao, Jonathan Meades - Bottom: Lydia Lunch, Daleks, ‘Inferno’
December 20, 2025 at 12:49 PM
signifier.bsky.social
this is a wonderful thread for those who love #cats & #art
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 26d
THREAD.

My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.

I've collected his work here...
Bridget the cat infiltrates the 'Abbey Road' cover shoot and becomes THE definitive fifth Beatle.
December 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM
signifier.bsky.social
“Creatures”

#art by Zel Cariad was our December 2023
#exhibition in The Signifier : six : shot : gallery :

6️⃣ medium.com/the-signifie...

#ContemporaryArt #animals #folklore #illustration #イラスト
Three illustrations of Velvet Worms colourful Pop Art in style while remaining biologically accurate. "Solórzano's velvet worm, Mongeperipatus solorzanoi (the pink one) is one of the biggest velvet worms, growing to around 22 cm long. Other species are much smaller, about 5cm long on average, but some species are even smaller. Eoperipatus totoro (the brown one) was named after the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro. The first specimen was caught in 2007. The team that found it wanted to name it after Totoro because the velvet worm's many-legged cuteness reminded them of the Catbus in the film. So far Eoperipatus totoro is the only velvet worm described from Vietnam. The species can grow to be up to 6cm long. The New Zealand Peripatus, Peripatoides novaezealandiae (blue one) gets its name from the word 'peripatetic' meaning 'wandering'. The Māori name for velvet worm has a similar meaning - ngaokeoke comes from the word 'ngaoki' meaning 'to crawl'. This particular species is about 10cm." more in article via link in post.
December 15, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Signifier
remydean.bsky.social
📖 🛶 🐈

I learnt a few new words from this excellent article by @mitsukinonaka.bsky.social about artist-illustrator Edward Gorey. One of them was 'ailurophilia'.

an ideal read for #Caturday via @signifier.bsky.social
🐾 medium.com/signifier/mi...

#illustration #イラスト #art #ArtHistory #BookSky
A pen and ink drawing by Edward Gorey of a meditative cartoon cat wearing a striped top standing among the boulders of a 'zen' dry landscape garden - the raked rings in the sand around the cat's feet implies he is at one with his surroundings... more about this image in the article via link in post.
December 13, 2025 at 12:28 PM
signifier.bsky.social
...especially relevant this time of year🤶

'Mother & Child in Devotional Art'

Our most ancient art celebrates motherhood & birth @remydean.bsky.social ponders some iconic visual representations of parenting

🎄 medium.com/signifier/mo...

#art #ArtHistory #history #Christmas
second-century fresco thought to be the earliest surviving image of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus in the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome, and the carved ivory panels from the Codex Aureus of Lorsch (c.830) with Madonna and Child, displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
December 13, 2025 at 2:09 PM
signifier.bsky.social
'Mirth & Misfortune, the Art of Edward Gorey' — Of Ailurophilia, Absonant Alphabets & Noegenetic Numbers

@mitsukinonaka.bsky.social explores a world filled with cruel tales but finds many are filled with compassion & a sense of kindly concern

😼 medium.com/signifier/mi...

#イラスト #art #illustration
ink line illustration by Edward Gorey of three children showing interest in a mysterious creature that is dragging itself out of the sea and onto the pier on which they stand
December 12, 2025 at 12:05 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🎄 🦞 🎅

"Suddenly #Christmas was a tradition & the 1st British Christmas card was sent in 1843 by Henry Cole..."

'Tis the Season to be Surreal - Surrealists will celebrate all around the world & you could be one of them, explains @remydean.bsky.social

⭐ medium.com/signifier/ti...

#illustration
the first Christmas card: "...frames to each side of the main image do suggest what the people may be thinking about — but it established another new tradition of artists being involved with the popular culture of Christmas. It also caused much indignation at the time because one of the details seems to be a mother offering wine to an infant which offended the moralists of the burgeoning temperance movement" - more in article via link in post
December 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Signifier
signifier.bsky.social

'Princess of Polka Dots, Yayoi Kusama'

@kimvertue.bsky.social explores the relationship between the individual & the infinite through the work of one of Japan's globally renowned artists…

medium.com/signifier/pr...

⬇️ #art & #ArtHistory that looks kinda Christmassy🎄
‘Filled with the Brilliance of Life’ (2011) one of Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Infinity Mirror Rooms’ is a large gallery space, mirrored floor to ceiling and filled with lots of suspended coloured fairy lights [images courtesy of Tate Galleries, presented by the artist, Ota Fine Arts and Victoria Miro 2015, accessioned 2019 © Yayoi Kusama]
December 11, 2024 at 12:12 PM
signifier.bsky.social
"mixed media on antique ledger paper" - maybe more info on the artist's website: www.tanyapjohnson.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:58 PM
signifier.bsky.social
🌌 🎨 🌀

‘Starry Night — Vincent’s Key-work?'

@remydean.bsky.social reads this poetic rendering of the relationship between the inner soul and the vast heavens as another of Van Gogh's self-portraits.

✨ medium.com/signifier/st...

#art #ArtHistory #painting
detail of the village from the famous painting - description and analysis in article via link in post...
December 8, 2025 at 6:34 PM