Mark Ryden's modern paintings and other works are perhaps best known for their oddly peculiar mixtures of children's book images and meat or blood. His work often juxtaposes happy child-like images with disturbing pieces of body parts or strange sights in nature. He came into the limelight of the art world in the 1990s. During this time, his quietly masterful work started began leading an entire west coast modern art movement into the frighteningly sublime.

Ryden may be classified as a 'pop-culture' artist, but his technique is really quite reminiscent of the Renaissance masters. His work with color and texture are very striking, and although the subject matter is often up for debate, there is no doubt that his style is uniquely stunning. Cuddly pets and adorable children are easy to spot in his work, as well as religious emblems, primordial landscapes, and hunks of the Midwest's finest t-bone steaks.

Ryden comments that his depiction of meat in so much of his work is due to a few personal driving thoughts. Conceptually, he believes there is quite a conundrum in the fact that once meat is on our plates, we forget that it came from a living animal. He believes that there is a disconnect between the great taste of meat and the butchery it took to get it to our plates. Visually, he believes meat has a strong impact as well. The texture, the patterns, the colors--all ripe for painting in his eyes.

No matter what you think of him or his work, Mark Ryden is a powerful force in the modern painting arena. He continues to paint commercially for musicians like Michael Jackson and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on album covers in addition to his own works.