{"id":2062,"date":"2025-09-12T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=2062"},"modified":"2025-09-12T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:00:00","slug":"joseph-renda-jr-s-surreal-trompe-loeil-portals-frame-esoteric-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=2062","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Renda Jr.\u2019s Surreal Trompe-l\u2019\u0153il Portals Frame Esoteric Scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-6.jpeg\" alt=\"Joseph Renda Jr.\u2019s Surreal Trompe-l\u2019\u0153il Portals Frame Esoteric Scenes\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the paintings of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrenda-art.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joseph Renda Jr.<\/a>, trompe-l\u2019\u0153il windows, arches, and blue skies meet in surreal settings. His <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/artists\/3692-rene-magritte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ren\u00e9 Magritte<\/a>-esque canvases celebrate nature and the uncanny, sometimes infused with a tinge of humor, to encourage an appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. Instead of focusing on the subconscious, like the 20th-century Surrealists, Renda emphasizes elements of our surroundings\u2014birds, gardens, flowers, and expansive landscapes\u2014which nevertheless possess rich symbolism.<\/p>\n<p>Birds, for example, have traditionally represented freedom, optimism, and connections to spiritual worlds. Plants, storms, tools, and myriad other motifs carry their own inherent meanings, from notions of growth and transformation to balance and justice. Situated within windows and archways, we\u2019re invited to peer into\u2014but not quite enter\u2014an esoteric world. And the blue sky sometimes cracks to reveal what may, in fact, be a fa\u00e7ade with who-knows-what beyond what we can see.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1487\" height=\"1922\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-5.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal painting by Joseph Renda Jr. framed by a stone arch motif, with a bird bath in the bottom and a blue sky\" class=\"wp-image-461975\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cRough Waters\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Renda\u2019s recent stone arch pieces are included in a three-person show at <a href=\"https:\/\/verticalgallery.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vertical Gallery<\/a>, <em>The Scenic Route, <\/em>alongside Jerome Tiunayan and Laura Catherwood. The exhibition runs through September 27 in Chicago. Find more on Renda\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jrenda-art.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/j.renda_artist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1851\" height=\"1852\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-8.jpeg\" alt=\"a framed painting by Joseph Renda Jr. of a blue sky and green landscape with a crack in the sky\" class=\"wp-image-461978\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cThe Sky Is Falling\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1493\" height=\"1919\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-2.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal painting by Joseph Renda Jr. framed by a stone arch motif, with a bird looking up at a white tree with a tire swing hanging from it\" class=\"wp-image-461972\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cMemory\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2045\" height=\"2050\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-1.jpeg\" alt=\"a framed painting by Joseph Renda Jr. of a blue sky and green landscape with a large table lamp lighting up the center\" class=\"wp-image-461971\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cWhere the Day Meets the Night\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1507\" height=\"1933\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-3.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal painting by Joseph Renda Jr. framed by a stone arch motif, with a bird perched on an hourglass leaning in the sand against a blue sky\" class=\"wp-image-461973\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cPassing By\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1738\" height=\"2212\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-7.jpeg\" alt=\"a framed painting by Joseph Renda Jr. of a blue sky with a bunch of roses that have human noses\" class=\"wp-image-461977\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cStop and Let the Roses Smell You\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1481\" height=\"1924\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/renda-4.jpg\" alt=\"a surreal painting by Joseph Renda Jr. framed by a stone arch motif, with a bird seated in a crack in the blue sky\" class=\"wp-image-461974\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cPerspective\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\">Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2025\/09\/joseph-renda-jr-surreal-paintings-trompe-loeil\/\">Joseph Renda Jr.\u2019s Surreal Trompe-l\u2019\u0153il Portals Frame Esoteric Scenes<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/\">Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the paintings of Joseph Renda Jr., trompe-l\u2019\u0153il windows, arches, and blue skies meet in surreal settings. His Ren\u00e9 Magritte-esque canvases celebrate nature and the uncanny, sometimes infused with a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}