Is it wrong to be captivated by unsettling art? There’s a strangely invigorating energy associated with the chilling themes, styles, and compositions — elements that make unsettling art so compelling. And by “unsettling art,” I don’t just mean the obvious examples like Bosch, Giger, or Munch. Many other artistic genres evoke this same startling allure through distinct stylistic choices and unexpected compositions. One often overlooked genre that has always struck me as particularly unsettling is Naive art.
While Naive art is not widely recognized, this genre has played a crucial role in bringing artists with less traditional backgrounds to the forefront of their practice. Stylistically, it is quite easy to differentiate Naive paintings from the others you may see assembled in a gallery. Typically these works are uninformed by traditional artistic institutions, relying solely on the artist’s own style and talent. Naive scenes are characterized by characters, landscapes, or actions portrayed in basic color palettes, static scenes, and rounded geometries. While this may seem unflattering, the ordinary nature of these paintings is what gives them emotional traction. Most Naive paintings are based on an artist’s personal experience, whether that be mundane memories from their childhood, unfiltered representations of difficult life experiences, or expressive compositions inspired by identity.
Naive art is unparalleled in its versatility and relatability. While it is unrealistic that any amateur artist could claim to be a Naive painter, anyone—including those without an appreciation for art— may find something relatable. So what makes these paintings particularly eerie? Ivan Generalic, a Croatian Naive painter, was particularly talented at infusing a chilling atmosphere into the most simple compositions. At the forefront of this unease is a dedication to painting in darkness. Rarely is there a sun in any of Generalic’s landscape paintings; his skies are filled with ominous clouds looming over seemingly unfazed inhabitants, sprawled out across rolling hills among tranquil folk villages. Paired with the playful, almost childish anatomy of the characters, these plastic landscapes infused mysticism into rural Croatian life. The goal of Generalic’s work isn’t to visually impress. Rather, he intends to tell a story about people, their lives, and the stories they created. What his work lacks in grandeur, they make up for in emotional value. This is the root of the unsettling; emphasis is placed on the awkward relationship between the viewer and the painting’s subjects, rather than enjoyment of its presentation.
For most, Naive art is likely more whimsical than it is hair-raising. So, where am I going with this? It all boils down to the tension between familiarity and alienation, specifically conflict over the human form. The characters in Naive art are almost always inordinately small, lost in expansive landscapes. Imagining myself as a character inside a Naive painting, I feel as though I’m trapped in a snow globe or ant farm. A very similar feeling is evoked when looking at works by the likes of Zdzislaw Beksiński and H.R. Giger, but in a different sense. Whereas Naive art disorients through innocence and scale, Beksiński and Giger confront us with distorted, gothic embodiments of fear, decay, and perhaps even moral corruption. A momentary unsettling predicament about human nature ensues, causing us to think deeply about our individual identities and the human experience.
