Saturday, February 14, 2009

I see deer people... all the time



Ok, I have to ask: what is it with the antlers? Not exactly a new phenomenon, but a bafflingly enduring one: the deer girl. Just google "deer girl" or "antlers girl" and start counting the paintings/drawings. Let's face it, it's been done to death; I've seen it on t-shirts, shopping bags, even children's books and horror flicks:



I guess trends, in art as in anything else, aren't exactly something new or to be puzzled by; the Pre-Raphaelites in their day were pretty obsessed with Ophelia and produced prodigious quantities of Ophelias pre-water, in water, floating, sitting, blond, red-haired...

I'm sure there are plenty of other trends (hey, kokeshi are starting to proliferate...); I find the antlers one particularly amusing though, because the only symbolism I'm aware of for wearing horns/antlers is the
French one, where it means that your significant other is being unfaithful:



The obscenely talented Mark Ryden just opened his Snow Yak show. Could this be the start of a new trend? Can't wait to see the yak t-shirts and tattoos that one's going to generate...

1 comment:

.hillsy.heart. said...

This is so strange. I had been wondering about the trend of girls with antlers and was compiling a collection of images when I found your blog. I had intended to write a similar blog. . .