Not Comics: RED CAT AND THE WINNER

Red Cat and The Winner are about a famous idea of Deng Xiao Ping that changed China’s modern history. 

In the late 70's, after the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiao Ping expressed this idea: no matter what color a cat is, if it can catch a mouse, it is a good cat. Thus he confronted those who argued against his new policy as being more capitalist than socialist.

(On left) Jiang Peng, The Winner, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 150 cm

[via]

POW! ZAP! PUNCH! Super Heroes And The Abstract Icons Of BOB KESSEL

   BIG CHIN-CHIN

Crazy-fresh back from her guest-lecturing gig at gay Paris'  Musée du Louvre,  our super quirky Superhero Artisan is back -- and she's already mixing it up like mad. Check back with her last two turns on the comicsblog and you'll see what we mean: Michael Myer's 'super minimalism' collides with Rodolforever's deco distillations in a colorful explosion of angular abstractions, and the result is the work of commercial artist and illustrator Bob Kessel. 

Kessel has been in front of an easel for over thirty years. His many series include works inspired by masters from Matisse to Michelangelo and themes as exotic as Japanese erotica, but comic books' (and anime) inescapable iconography is one area in which he clearly revels.   And he approaches those heroic subjects from the outside in: begin with Kessel's Mythology or Minotaur, proceed past the somewhat muted colorings of his Pulp Art to the Picasso-esque abstractions of his Roy Lichtenstein homages, and ZAP! WHAM! POW! you've arrived where the real fun begins.
Err, make that POW! WHAM! ZAP!, Kessel's newest art series to celebrate American super heroes.  Combined with the many pieces of his other super series, POP unintentional, and his timely tilt to IRONMAN2 (see also below), it's relatively quite incredible how numerous his comics-inspired works are. 


But they might not be for everybody.  Geometric and linear - Euclidean Geometry or Invisible Plane being just two great examples (not to mention puns) - Kessel's particular subjects should stand out to comics fans, a group more skilled in art theory than some may think and who are more than familiar with abstract symbolism. Because that's what superheroes are - symbols. Comics are filled with the rectangular frames and active lines that also restrain and mobilize Kessel's work, and the colors of both function to identify as well as clarify (see Gossip below).

 The similarities to minimalism - our Superhero Artisan's favorite genre - are present throughout here, and Kessel works toward - and arguably reaches - the same goals of representation we've seen before on the comicsblog.  But each canvas in Kessel's comics collection is comparably busier, edgier, louder, and way more in your face. (Yes, that is a technical term from the Louvre, if you must know.) In Kessel's art, Hans Hofmann's simplification is working overtime, its principles evident in Kessel's emphasis on color and line and the spatial relationships created  as a result.  In those last points,  theoretically and visually, abstract expressionism -  appropriately also referred to as action painting - and minimalism diverge. 

But screw the art criticism! Art is a personal and subjective experience like sex or  appreciating Grant Morrison, so we're turning you loose to form your own opinion. Superhero Artisan's inclined to think that Kessel's a closet comic geek, though other critics across the comicsblogosphere have stated the artist simply appropriated comics' geeky goodness for his own purposes.  What say you dabblers? abbracadabbling wants to know all, so get at us once you get down the page and let us know what you're thinking. Deal? 

 

EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY 

[define it!]

HEAT VISION

INVISIBLE PLANE

GOSSIP

ALL-SEEING EYE

IRONMAN2

DIAMOND POP MARTIAN

COSMIC CRACKLE

PUNCH!

Artwork on today's comicsblog can all be found in the artist's online gallery - here.

Loving the abstract stuff? Follow Bob Kessel's art-centric blog - here.

QuotA: HANS HOFMANN, 20th Century Infusion

The comicsblog quotA is filled today by German-born American abstract expressionist painter, Hans Hofmann. Primarily concerned with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and color relationships, Hofmann believed that abstract art was the way to get at what was really important. (Unless you're eating a Twinkie, then not so much.)  Read more about Hans [here] and on the abstract expressionist artistic movement [here].

Minimal Tat: STAR WARS Travel Posters

While he hasn't yet made it to every destination in that galaxy far, far away, artist Justin Van Gendersen's Star Wars Travel Series would surely get us to hit the hyper-drive for a weekend on Tatooine. Then again, we grew up in Arizona, so maybe not. But Van Gendersen is one more artist capturing that Minimal feel that we love and comicsblog so much about.  You'll see what we're talking about if you take a detour and peruse his Flickr page here. 

Not For Sale: BBW BARBIE DOLL

We said imagine all day, not eat all day. Otherwise, you might become the next "New Idol" is the latest series of sculptures by Italian artist Franceso de Molfetta.  In fact, the sculptor calls his solo exhibition at Milan's Don Gallery just that -- New Idols.  More accurately, de Molfetta offers a new look at old 80's icons- like 'Barbie The Hutt' (above).  Mattel's got a cash cow (no pun intended) right there, probably even bring home more bacon than Mad Men.

Batman, JFK, King Kong, ET, and a very well-hung Superman and more join Barbie as members of de Molfetta's odd-looking to even slightly grotesque collection. If you haven't had breakfast yet - don't. You'll get fat! Check out the artist's unique vision here - and don't say we didn't warn ya!

STAR TREK XI Concept Artists

Everybody -- and I mean everybody -- is working, playing, making strange noises that sound vaguely like a Mugato in heat, or otherwise is enjoying themselves at the Home Office. That would make today just like every other day, really, because we always have a lot fun when we're abbracadabbling.

Well, maybe not the Mugato impersonations. They were added into the mix just this morning by my next door neighbor and partner-in-crime Raley. She says they're her way of being excited for tomorrow's DVD and Blu-Ray release of JJ Abrams' Star Trek IX. And I guess her excitement rubbed off on the rest of us pretty quickly.

Abbracadabbling's going to be celebrating Star Trek's 'coming out day', too. We're bringing you all sorts of Trek on the blog today, tonight, and into tomorrow. If you're not in the mood yet -- you soon will be. You're invited to join us in The Ready Room.

Abbracadabblers dig (not Digg) sci-fi concept art. We've shown you Rodolfo Damaggio's work as he preps for Green Lantern, and today we follow up with the amazing lines, colors, and imaginations of concept artists Ryan Church and James Clyne. Their visions of the future assured Star Trek XI 's present magic.

Ryan Church has worked for Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal, and for George Lucas' Industrial Light + Magic at California's Skywalker Ranch outside San Francisco. His past film credits include War of the Worlds (2005), all three movies of the second Star Wars trilogy, Dead Space, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and of course, Star Trek XI.

James Clyne's projects have included Star Trek XI, Transformers, AI, and X-Men3: The Last Stand. His earliest work was in video-game design and illustration, and he continues to purse projects on both fronts. Here, we show you our favorite Clyne-designed piece, the early destruction of Starfleet at the hands of Nero.

Concept Art for abbracadabbling courtesy of Ryan Church [Link] and James Clyne [Link] via Concept Art World [Link].

YGI: Damaggio Will Power 'GREEN LANTERN'

Green Lantern has remained one of my favorite superheroes ever since my life in single digits, and not much has changed for the last thirty years. While the drama and intrigue of his stories has never been as visceral - and thus not as enjoyable -- as my other favorite hero's, Batman -- Green Lantern's hook in me was never his character's resolve, nor the spectacle of his space-faring adventures, nor even his emerald costume always awash in that green cosmic glow.

It's the Power Ring of the Green Lanterns that I've always desired, and what as a little boy became the catalyst of wonderful and soaring dreams. The ring is Green Lantern's weapon, but it's also much more. Unlike the Batman's batarangs or grappling hooks, which are tools and movie props, the whole of the Green Lantern concept, the heart of the superhero, and indeed Green Lantern's very source of his luminescent powers are all embodied in his green ring.

The power ring functions on all levels of story for Green Lantern - plot, narrative, character, decision, thought, thematic elements, and spectacle. The best Green Lantern stories are those by writers who have this comprehensive understanding. Geoff Johns has captured these principles in the current DC Comics Green Lantern series, and has even extended it (perhaps as far as possible without it unraveling) through the current Blackest Night with success. It works because despite all the action, science fiction, and character development -- all essential and great things -- he didn't loose the core of the story in the process. Concept permeates the work, and gives it meaning.

In comics and movies both, a story's concept can be difficult to execute, but a good artist can capture it, conveying idea, mood and design through their work. A great concept artist accomplishes the same, yet more. The difference is something ineffable, a spirit or imaginative quality, that gives form and presence to a story on the page and off. Like in Green Lantern comics, conviction and willpower make the imagined, real.

Rodolfo Damaggio has been called by his peers to be among the best concept artists working today. Before moving into concept art and storyboard creation, Damaggio began his artistic career as a penciler and inker for DC Comics. Damaggio notes this bit of advice on his website: 'if you want to learn to draw, draw comics.'

It's extremely clear that he's learned to do just that, with cinematic grandeur. And to say that I'm absolutely stoked that Rodolfo Damaggio's current gig just happens to be Warner Bros' upcoming Green Lantern movie would be an understatement.

Damaggio's talent and skill is reflected by his extensive resume that includes films like Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He's worked with director Joe Johnston on both Jurassic Park III and most recently Universal's The Wolf Man -- which you know all about from our weekend blog.

Science fiction aside, Damaggio's experience in film hasn't strayed too far from his comic book beginnings. He's worked as a concept and storyboard artist on Ang Lee's Hulk, Marvel's first Iron Man movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Mission Impossible III.

It's likely to be some time before any of his concept art of Ryan Reynolds or Green Lantern surfaces, but once you see Damaggio's work, it's impossible to think that Green Lantern's concepts are in anything but the best and most capable of hands.

For your graphic imagination, abbracadabbling presents just a sample of Rodolfo Damaggio's portfolio below. If you'd like to see more, you can find his many portfolios and samples of his comics work on his website here.

Mission Impossible 3 concept art

Mission Impossible 3 concept art

Sketch art for Indiana Jones 4

Batman pencils and inks for DC Comics

Storyboard element from Hulk

Storyboard page from Act I

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer