Gothic Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Gothic Art and Illustration
- New
- Mint Condition
- Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
- Guaranteed packaging
- No quibbles returns
<- Read More Buy Now for [wpramaprice asin=”1905814356″] (Best Price)
Triumph of Dark Art,
This book brings together a variety of artists. The range of subject matter includes myth, vampires, emotions, fetish and decay to name but a few. It is divided into chapters with headings such as ‘Femmes Fatales’, ‘Indstrial Goth’ and ‘Lurking Horror.’ Each chapter is carried by its full page illustrations and a short explanatory paragraph. It includes pictures created by media such as digital painting, acrylic on canvas scupture and photography.
We go from the hauntingly beautiful such as Leslie Ann O’Dell’s ‘Twofold’ to the fascinatingly ugly such as ‘Charli Siebert’s ‘Something Inside.’ We have strange fantasy such as Lisa Falzon’s ‘When Pandora Looked She Saw’ and the darkly disturbing such as Gus Fink’s ‘Mock wedding.’ Many of the creations mix benign with benevolent or innocent with menacing. Paradox, mystery or plain confrontation draws the reader (or should that be viewer?) in.
This book does not attempt to explain or analyse gothic art, instead letting the pictures speak for themslves. It is an excellent collection and lovers of this genre will not tire of looking at it.
Was this review helpful to you?Â
|OO…,
…And OO again.
What, I say WHAT a treat. Eye candy for the twisted mind, for sure. And I should know. I can’t put the thing down yet – there’s so much in it begging to be ogled and perused, scrutinised and analysed, and yet…
…Well, there is just one snitch.
A lot of the pictures – a disproportionate amount – are rendered with the old digital prestidigitation. Now don’t get me wrong; the digital paintings are well worth looking at. I dunno, it left me feeling just a little cheated. For me, art is about the skill of the artist wielding the tools of the trade – brush, paint, pencil, chainsaw – to create illusions in three or two dimensions. I’m no technophobe. NO. That’s a lie for a start. I’m a card-carrying Luddite. And proud of it. But nonetheless, there’s room for digital art in the kind of environment in which it can thrive – in commercial studios, where technique isn’t as important as getting the image to the client as fast as possible. And that’s where it should stay. If I buy a book on art (and I do, frequently) I expect to find that the artists have actually put marks on canvas, board, or paper. Even a cave wall would be preferable than something trundled out of an AppleMac programme.
Gnash.
Grr.
But still, it IS a stonking book and I’m glad I bought it. It’s inspirational. And if nothing else, it’ll have you reaching for your pad and pencils. No bad thing.
The cover illustration is a promise of what to expect.
Buy it, and be delighted.
Frothy, man.
Was this review helpful to you?Â
|