Danny Malboeuf is a visual artist and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. As kolaboy he is a member of the breedArt collective and a Senior Member of DeviantArt, where four of his paintings have received the site's top award. His musical project is Cowgirl in the Snow.

Art

Danny Malboeuf is a self-trained artist/illustrator.Artist's statement
at th
beinArt International Surreal Art Collective
retrieved January 26, 2008Brown, L.L. (1995) Tales of the Darkside, ''Creative Loafing'' (Charlotte), Sep 9, 1995. Extensive print-only review of a 27-painting Malboeuf exhibition, Charlotte, NC. Working mainly in acrylics, he paints in an allegorical figurative style that combines surrealist,

symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

and

pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

sensibilities, often in conjunction with subtle

pop-culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

references. Malboeuf counts music and literature as his greatest sources of inspiration; specific artistic influences include the painters Arnold Boecklin,

John Martin John Martin may refer to: Business *John Martin (businessman) (1820–1905), American lumberman and flour miller *John Charles Martin (fl. 1913–1931), American newspaper publisher *John Martin (publisher) (born 1930), American founder of Black ...

, Ferdinand Khnopff, and Leon Frédéric. While many of his paintings deal with

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

and religious themes, the frequent incorporation of sci-fi and

imagery from the artist's youth establishes tentative connections with movements such as

pop surrealism Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, is an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. It is a populist art movement with its cultural roots in underground comix, punk music, tiki culture, graffiti, and h ...

. He has a strong bias towards painting female subjects, "perhaps because the essence of female is more poetic, and the male more prosaic." Malboeuf is represented by The Queen's Gallery and Art Center in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and is a member of the international Surreal Visionary Art Collective. In the past twenty years, his work has been exhibited in numerous solo and joint exhibitions, including one at the

Huntington Museum of Art The Huntington Museum of Art is a nationally accredited art museum located in the Park Hills neighborhood above Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia. Housed on over 50 acres of land and occupying almost 60,000 square feet, it is the larges ...

, and his paintings can now be found in private collections in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Malboeuf's outsider leanings and penchant for dark themes and forbidden mixtures can be disquieting or even controversial. "If you've never contemplated the odd, spellbinding paintings by Charlotte original Danny Malboeuf, now's your chance to catch up. An uneasy feeling mixed with awe at the artist's painterly skill is not unusual with these acrylics. ''Holy Water'' and ''Consecration of St. Joan'' both deliver a biting admixture of religion and sexuality." Another critique reads "This artist's idiosyncratic slice of surrealism, dark and Gothic, is imbued with a strong dose of high-techno metallica in a strange quasi-religious vein that incites uneasy thoughts. If

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

and H.P. Lovecraft rose from the dead and co-wrote a series of stories – and Max Ernst collaborated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti using Giger's ''Alien'' as a prototype to illustrate these collaborative tales – the result might resemble Malboueuf's series of images. ..Malboeuf's intensely symbolic paintings do occasionally depict a sunnier mood, ..but more common is a decaying, bittersweet morbidity – futuristic pre-Rapahelite paintings corrupted by the forces of the darkside. There's a repellent attraction to this work that's compelling." On the academic front, Malboeuf's painting ''Holy Water'' is the subject of a Master's dissertation. Online, where he uses the screen-name ''kolaboy'', Malboeuf is a member of the breedArt collective; he also holds Senior Member status at DeviantArt, where his online gallery has had over 213 000-page-views and is subscribed to by some 2700 members. He is listed in DeviantArt's Top Artists directory and has four times won the site's top ''Daily Deviation'' award, a recent win being accompanied by the editorial observation "One of dA's finest Surreal artists, ''kolaboy'' never ceases to amaze." Three of Malboeuf's paintings have been published in ''Mostro'', an Italian-language literary/art journal, with one gracing the cover. His paintings have also been featured on the cover of ''OLOGY'' magazine, with the editorial comment "Speaking of things that are sweet, check out this issue's cover artist, Danny Malboeuf. Take a good look, folks, because long after we are all dead, people will still be talking about his work." His artwork is featured on the cover of ''Bandersnatch'', a hardcover anthology of horror stories, as well as on the cover of the Ruby Vileos album ''This is the Day''. His painting ''The Eternal'' was featured in Web Digest Weekly. Three of his paintings are reproduced in the literary/arts journal ''Antithesis Common''. Malboeuf has also provided two invited pieces for the Pornsaints website; his art was included in their 2008 exhibition at A&D Gallery in central London, and their 2010 exhibition at the Birdhouse Gallery in Austin, Texas. ''Firebird'' was chosen to illustrate the exhibition review in the Austin Chronicle; as arts critic Wayne Brenner observed, " st of the depictions of saintly pornstars are depictions of women. Which is fine by this (admittedly biased) reviewer ... especially when the artwork is as gorgeous as Danny Malboeuf's finely detailed and cyberpunky Firebird painting". Also in 2010, Malboeuf was described as "a Surrealist for our times" in a review for The 405, a music and culture magazine. The October 2010 issue of visual arts magazine ''n-sphere'' featured Malboeuf's art on the cover and in the lead article, accompanied by a 26-work exhibition in The Spheres guest gallery. A positive review of Malboeuf's Statesville exhibition in early 2014 noted the artist's reclusive nature and prolific output, estimated at 6000 paintings. Malboeuf's work was also exhibited internationally in the Endangered Visions show at ManilArt 2014 in the Philippines. In 2016, three paintings were featured i
''Buffalo Zine''
with the editorial observation "There's something both sweet and incredibly perverse about Danny Malboeuf's paintings. Under the pseudonym ''KOLABOY'', the North Carolina artist depicts a world in which young girls are free to engage in abstract acts of ritual fun with each other -- it feels almost like we shouldn't be looking." He is cited as an inspiration for the artist NED (Ned M. Stacey). Solo exhibitions *1990 First Union National Bank, Statesville, NC. *1995 ''Beauties of Provenient Grace'', Queens Gallery and Art Center, Charlotte, NC. *1995 ''Exposure of Conviction'', Rowe Art Gallery, Univ. North Carolina at Charlotte, NC. *2014 ''LaCoste'', Court Street Gallery, Iredell Museums, Statesville, NC. *2019 ''The Atrocities Show'', Court Street Gallery, Iredell Museums, Statesville, NC.

Music

A singer/songwriter and instrumentalist, Malboeuf's solo music project is Cowgirl in the Snow; it straddles the indie,

twee Twee (Dutch for two) may refer to: * Twee pop, a music genre * Twee River, a river that forms the Groot River (Western Cape), South Africa See also * Twi Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by severa ...

, and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

genres, releasing candy-coated

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

songs in the spirit of

Sarah Records Sarah Records was a British independent record label active in Bristol between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop, which it released mostly on 7" singles. On reaching the catalogue number SARAH 100, the label celebrated it ...

and 4AD. Musical influences include

Ultra Vivid Scene Ultra Vivid Scene was an American alternative rock band, started by Kurt Ralske. Background Former Nothing But Happiness and Crash guitarist Ralske started Ultra Vivid Scene in 1987, was signed to 4AD Records in 1988, and released his first U ...

and

The Records The Records were an English power pop band formed in 1978. They are best remembered for the hit single and cult favourite "Starry Eyes". Music career The Records formed out of the ashes of the Kursaal Flyers, a pub rock group featuring drumme ...

. A review reads: “Cowgirl in the Snow makes addictive lo-fi indie pop, with guitars drenched in effects … Twee pop at its finest.” Danny Malboeuf's brother is David, who is the musician D. M. Frankin Kane and his father was the bluegrass fiddler "Red" Tommy Malboeuf.

Writing

As well as featuring Malboeuf's art in 2006, ''OLOGY'' Magazine also showcased some of his writing
''Buffalo Zine''
did likewise in 2016. Early in 2011, Malboeuf published an illustrated book, ''Saestralle – A Tale of the North,''''Saestralle – A Tale of the North''
/ref> which presents a poetic legend imagined in the Arctic region. He has since published other illustrated books which are suitable for young readers.

References

External links

Malboeuf's website
commenced June 2014.
Malboeuf's gallery and journal
on DeviantArt.
DeviantArt News: interview with Malboeuf
January 28, 2009.
In a Cursed World – WowxWow Artist Interview
June 29, 2017.

at The Queen's Gallery and Art Center, Charlotte, NC.
Danny Malboeuf – Surreal Art Collective
* Personal reflections
'Les Très Riches Heures'
an
'The Art of Kolaboy''From Balthus to Beksinski: the Art of Danny Malboeuf'
– essay on DeviantArt.
'Danny and Dino: A Tale of Two Symbolists'
– an exploration of visual motifs shared by Malboeuf and

Dino Valls Dino Valls is a Spanish painter born in 1959 in Zaragoza. Building on a childhood passion for drawing, Valls taught himself to paint in oils beginning in 1975. After completing his degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1982, Valls devoted himself f ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Malboeuf, Danny Living people 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Fantastic art 1960 births People from Statesville, North Carolina 20th-century American male artists