chemical messiah is the working name of the self-taught collage artist Joshua Dunlap, who builds surreal, pop-and-horror imagery out of combined source images.,,Based in the Philadelphia suburbs, he began the name as a character in a novel he was writing, meant to stand for anything a person relies on for answers the way others rely on religion.,
The art aims to make viewers stare and analyze subjects and ideas they might otherwise look away from.,He mixes dark, often religious, imagery with brighter pop images that disarm the viewer before they take in the whole piece.His collages pair religion and patriotism with bloodshed and death, and place Renaissance imagery alongside the Golden Age in a single, cultish composition.His work has led to commissions including a room at The Weinmeister hotel in Germany, an album cover for the band The Regrettes, and a custom-painted hearse for Nihilist Ice Cream.He works exclusively in Photoshop.
Dunlap has made art since around age thirteen, when he began in graphic design. His early work relied on bright colors and plain backgrounds, and over time he moved toward building complete worlds that juxtapose pop culture, horror, and surrealism.,He cites the painters Rene Magritte and Zdzislaw Beksinski and the filmmakers David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick among his influences.
By July 2021 he had begun releasing NFTs on Rarible and Hic et Nunc, including welcome to america, ambrosia, and skeleton city. He described the shift to NFTs as part of art's natural evolution, and said he had kept his style consistent rather than chasing market trends.
