Reviewer Jessica Roberts is a book reviewer for a local newspaper and has reviewed for a national women's magazine too. She has had various articles published in magazines and has now completed her novel. Jessica currently lives in West Yorkshire and enjoys walking in the dales and woodlands as part of her hobby as well as, of course, reviewing books. To read more of Jessica's reviews CLICK HERE
Author:
Harry Saylor with Carolyn Frisch
Publisher:
Mark Batty Publisher
ISBN:
978-0-9817805-9-7
A wonderful book for art lovers and artists alike
Author:
Harry Saylor with Carolyn Frisch
Publisher:
Mark Batty Publisher
ISBN:
978-0-9817805-9-7
Click Here To Purchase EdgyCute: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back Again
Author: Harry Saylor with Carolyn Frisch
Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher
ISBN: 978-0-9817805-9-7
What is edgycute? Is it dreamy, fluffy, bubbly cartoons and edgy designs? Or is it the unreal, surrealist, escapism drawings which capture strange angles of life and turn them into our intimate fantasies?
As this book portrays, it is both. Edgycute is as much about the doe-eyed girls in pink dresses, animated desserts, bubbly cartoon characters and Disney artificial sweetener as it is about the lurking evil behind these often playful drawings which help to capture our childhood dreams.
Opening this stunning book felt a bit like opening Pandora’s box or falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. On the first page is our introduction to Edgycute with “The Butcher Bunny” illustration from the pen of Mark Ryden. This captures surrealism and evil and wraps it up in cotton candy. Our inner child instantly loves the fluffy bunny rabbit and the innocent girl with red ribbons in her hair. Yet our grown-up, aware of hidden meanings side, picks out the sinister glow of the bunny’s red eyes and the butchered pig lying on the table with its blood staining the wood. We also see the knives lined up and the odd little man, perhaps a dwarf, who holds the young girl’s hand. What about the severed pig’s head in the bucket? As you study this remarkable picture, which was once featured as a cover illustration for BLAB!, you see a world altogether different from the one you first saw.
The sensible side of us tells us not to like this crazy world yet we appreciate it so much and like Eve in the garden of Eden we want to taste it more and more, against our better judgement.
The more pages you turn the more escapism illustrations you’ll see. Disney poison and Anime erotica lure you in and you follow.
“We are intoxicated with memories of simplified Nintendo minimalism, Disney artificial sweetener and reinterpreted manga representations; that mirror image reflects a darker alter ego, which many find surprisingly refreshing and appealing,” so the artist Kathie Olivas tells us. You reflect on this statement and come to understand how right she is. We also love anything that isn’t “right” or “normal”. Is this because we simply cannot understand it?
On one page we are struck by how fluffy and sweet the picture of a young girl and come-to-life bunny is. They are pictured in a living room, the oven warming the girl’s hands. Yet look closer… the rabbit has teddy bear’s head on a baking tray and her razor-sharp teeth show under her round cherry-like nose. It is almost as if you have walked into a fantasy with evil at its core.
The work of Nicoletta Ceccoli is displayed inside this terrific book. Her paintings do indeed transport you into a “melancholy-tinged fantasy world where beautiful creatures and magical girls populate strange landscapes and find themselves in curious situations.”
Travis Lampe’s work intrigued me on many levels. He created ads for breakfast cereals and was once an art director. He likes to capture the funny side of anger and sorrow in his paintings which are vintage modern and feature characters strangely familiar. Again a wonderful artist whose work you will not forget in a hurry.
Brandt Elling Peters is also an artist I much admire whose work reflects the ways in which people relate to one another.
Towards the end of this book I didn’t feel quite as amazed by the artwork and some of the end pieces really didn’t capture my attention as the first ones did. They are scrawny and often quite garish. There again, this is only my opinion and others who have an interest in this particular type of art may find it inspiring.
Overall a stunning Mark Batty title which helps to the showcase the arts of Brian Viveros, Derek Yaniger, Daron Parton, Gerd Dagne, Jeremiah Ketner amongst many, many more.
A wonderful book for art lovers and artists alike.
Click Here To Purchase EdgyCute: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back Again