Tuesday 16 July 2013

Cosmic folk trend revisited and Luis Toledo!







Although I have already blogged bout this I think it's a really interesting trend prediction and so timely as well. In June this year the UK's Ministry of Defence released 50 years of the governments UFO files to the public. This ties in perfectly with the prediction that there will be an increasing interest in the cosmos and the universe that is outside of our reach and that this will be displayed in the graphics and prints used in fashion. Along with this peoples interest in sacred geometry and Egyptology seems to be developing.


We could be looking at graphics similar to this in future fashion:






The cosmic folk trend seems to predict a revival in religious art and the mythical figures that seem to accompany religious paintings. This is a perfect follow on from the current trend of the all-seeing eye, symbols with Freemason associations and the hamsa hand(blogged about on 7th June). In our culture there seems to be an increase in people who are searching for something more than the material surroundings we create for ourselves. This natural exploration into different religions and sets of beliefs in order to find fulfillment is set to be echoed in future fashion trends.







This trend has been on my mind since I first came across it on WGSN and I recently came across an artist on Pinterest whose work seems to sit perfectly with the key concepts in the cosmic folk trend.

Luis Toldeo is a graphic designer from Madrid whose specializes in detailed digital collages where images are juxtaposed on top of one another to create chaotic but beautiful designs. He combines images/illustrations from the past with abstract futuristic shapes which seem to inadvertently show how our past and our future are often inseparable and work together. 


Ernst Haeckel's 'Art forms in nature' illustrations are an obvious influence throughout Toledo's work.


There are so many underlying messages throughout Toledo's artworks and they often have a political/religious edge. I love the fact that his work isn't just art for the sake of creating art, he has a unique viewpoint and this is shown through the imagery he uses. Titles of his work include the 'New world order' and the 'False prophet of Trinidad', perfect examples of how he shows politics and religious dissonance through art. 


Left: 'The false prophet of Trinidad',
Right: 'Myths of creation'.

Left: 'New world order',
Right: 'Hor Semshu'.


As well as being so informative and meaningful, Toledo still manages to make his pieces emotive, 'darkness' is a perfect example of this! 


Left: 'Darkness',
Right: '7777777' (The description given for this title on the artist's website is 'There are seven days a week, seven colors of the rainbow and seven deadly sins.')



The chaos in his work is so symbolic of the chaos in contemporary society, the way he juxtaposes different religious imagery could be representative of how we lack boundaries and are able to dabble in different religions and different ways of thinking.


All of these images are taken from one design- so much detail!


Looking at Toledo's work from a strictly aesthetical point of view, without taking into account the symbology and meaning behind his work, the layout of his design work fits in perfectly with the images WGSN has put together for the cosmic folk trend. 

To see more of Toledo's work visit:














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