A million years ago (the early 80's) I was involved with a "fantasy art gallery" in Annapolis, Maryland. The Pendragon showed work by James Lane Casey, Judy King Rieniets, Lee Stice, Bob Leming, Rick Shelley, the Brothers Hildebrandt and Steve Hickman, among others. Since I was The Kid, all the older, more talented artists put up with a lot from me; Steve Hickman even gave me a little goache preliminary sketch for one of his book covers, shown here.
It's been a while since fantasy art has gotten any respect, so kudos to Roq la Rue for putting on a show celebrating art that’s usually seen only on book covers, posters thumbtacked to damp basement walls and, back a million years ago, airbrushed on the sides of vans.
Roq La Rue Gallery Presents "Amazing Visions" curated by Travis Louie with Kirsten Anderson
Opening Friday April 13th 6-9pm with music by DJ Vodka Twist and Barbarella / Free to public
Show runs through May 5th
Roq la Rue is very pleased to present a groundbreaking show featuring some of the most talented and revered artists working in the Fantasy/Sci Fi art world.
Often vilified and kept firmly underground, (with the exception of some commercial work) Fantasy Art has been relegated to the back corner of the art world's consciousness, despite being a pervasive art genre appreciated by many. Contrary to some public perception that Fantasy Art is “unicorns and wizards” (and ok, sometimes it IS), it is also often deeply rooted in both mythological and archetypal psychology and imagery, mixed with man’s innate wonder and contemplation about cultures and technology of the future. Much like the best fantasy and sci fi literature, the best work is able to transcend labels and genres to simply be “great art” and in fact much of it shares traits with academically sanctioned art movements such as Surrealism, Symbolism, and the Pre-Raphaelites. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, “ Fantasy is overcoming one’s poverty of imagination”.
Lots of amazing artists, including James Gurney, H.R. Giger, Charles Vess, Kuniko Y Craft, Brian Despain, Brom, Stephen Hickman, Chet Zar, James Warhola, Basil Gogos, Omar Rayyan, Tristan Elwell and John Jude Palancar