Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and even Captain America. The one thing these superheroes can not escape from, regardless of what they represent as ideals, is that they are all consumer brands; their images and adventures are owned by corporations. They have taken on a life outside of those brands in our imaginations and mythologies. We imagine new exploits for them from adventures on the playground as children to fan fiction as adults. Their canonical destinies, however, are penned by entities who brought them into being to make money and direct their actions, not from some higher moral calling, but from a profit-driven bottom line; comic books, movies, and licensed merchandise. Still, in my head, the heroes will always prevail. Somehow, with a witty quip or profound narrative, they will find a way to escape. I know they will prove me right; and I swipe my card for the latest issue or a seat at this summer's blockbuster sequel.
More on the paintings and the artist:
All of the images presented in this post are by artist Simon Monk in a series of paintings called "Secret Identity". As Monk describes the series, "Placed in carrier bags and hung on a hook in a domestic space they become recently purchased objects, robbed of the enormous power they wield in their narratives, their dynamic energy stymied. Despite this reduction they remain irresistible in their cartoonish rage and pride."
Whereas I chose to concentrate on the heroes as consumer objects, Monk delves deeper for those inclined to take it to the next level. "…the bag conceals the superhero who in turn conceals their alter ego. These observations may be seen as roughly analogous to the situation of the painter. The visual fantasies which fill a painter's head must inevitably be reduced to an image, robbed of much of their superpower. Similarly the multifariousness of an individual's persona is condensed in the studio to that of the artist: a secret identity in itself." Note the names of the superhero paintings; each hero painting is named with the hero's non-super identity. The irony that many of the superhero prints in the series ultimately labeled as the artist's identity of Simon Monk, can also be purchased as prints, does not escape me. Additionally, Monk's way of looking at the artist as a secret identity in itself will forevermore be in my mind when I consume any art from this point forward.
I highly encourage you to visit the link and look at Monk's other works. Included are depictions of more everyday objects in bags and a landscape presented on a store's carryout bag, all of which I think reinforce his analogy of the visuals in a painter's head being reduced to images. Enjoy!
http://www.simonmonk.com/index.php?/ongoing/secret-identity/
#comicbookart #batman #superman #spiderman #captainamerica
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"…the bag conceals the superhero who in turn conceals their alter ego. These observations may be seen as roughly analogous to the situation of the painter. The visual fantasies which fill a painter's head must inevitably be reduced to an image, robbed of much of their superpower. Similarly the multifariousness of an individual's persona is condensed in the studio to that of the artist: a secret identity in itself."
+Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado Aside from the fact I now imagine you painting in a cape and mask, does the concept Monk presents resonate at all with you as an artist? I can only begin to imagine what your paintings look like in your mind before the translation to the physical world as what the rest of us can actually experience.
awesome!
+Andrew Clifton-Brown same question to you as to Eddie in the first comment. Picking on you too, because we share some brain cells on superheroes so the paintings may be of interest. Also, I definitely classify you as an artist; so curiosity, especially with photography and what's in your mind's eye versus the final processed shot.
he totally bagged it!
Honestly, +Emilio Boronali +Kari Tedrick +Mary C. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it also (skim the comments to this point). If I did not specifically tag you and you are reading this, answer away, please! I'd be typing forever if I tagged all of you. 🙂
+Scott Cramer Truly love the style, the topics and the whole idea!!!
Thanks +Scott Cramer. That's lovely of you to say 🙂
I absolutely love the artwork Simon Monk! The second I saw them it took me back to dragging my mum and dad around a city in Spain from Toyshop to Toyshop trying to find a superman figure that had an S on his chest (for some reason lots of them didn't but I got one in the end!). The artwork above evoked in me the childlike need to own them. As if their adventures and their lives would enrich mine. Wich it did without doubt.
The day I read the Harlem Hero's of the British comic 2000AD I was hooked +Scott Cramer. I was a done deal from that day forwards so comics and the heros and villians in them are a part of me. I always, always wanted to be able to draw. I used to be passable in some respects but the levels of frustration I felt at my lack of talent and the definable aspects of what I couldn't put onto paper made me stop. Ever since I was a young man something felt off in me. That needed to come out. So when the time came a few years back I brought a DSLR and gave it a go. I was tired of looking at things with a mournful longing that I realised later was that I wanted to capture that moment from that view point. I must have shot nearly everyday for two or so years. I shoot lots in really low light or night time now. I don't really get how my brain does it, but I can see how the light is going to come out in post when I shoot, and I know what I am going to do with it. I'm always amazed at artists ability to take my breath away. It comes from within them, whereas all I have done is looked through a viewfinder and snapped. Not that I am diminishing photography at all, I just wish I could draw. To create something from the floor up without it existing at any point prior to that. I suspect this is why I'm liking shooting in a studio more and more. The ability to control things to finite degrees and create something from the floor up.
People like +Mary C. and +Mar Mai do honestly amaze me. Talented, imaginative and lovely is a way to go through life. Your own talent +Scott Cramer with photoshop content never ceases to make me smile and laugh. How you nail someones personal shots combined with laudable content takes a damn good eye.
So with regards to vision, when I shoot something normally clicks in my head. It's mercurios at best but it pushes what I'm shooting to be aligned to something I've come across previously and associates it with that because my brain has decided it'll fit together. And that's normally how I shoot my own work (not paid gigs. They tell me what they want and I try and give that to them). I'm never dogmatic enough to assume what I am going to shoot will align with what I had in mind. To have that level of flexibility can also stymie you at times as you get into an almost Orewellian 'Double think' situation where everything is right and everything should be captured so then you have to shoot of much of it as you can! The light can change the tone of something in a heartbeat as well, and in that moment I see everything differently. I also stare a lot when I am out shooting. It probably looks affected but I have to have a good look around. There's always something where you don't expect it.
Jeez. To elicit anything other than humour or gags from me is quite an achievement +Scott Cramer!
+Andrew Clifton-Brown Thank you so much for that; more than I could have possibly hoped for in reply! If you haven't already, I sure hope you post that on your stream. It's amazing.
Lastly, thanks for the complement and I also definitely share your desire for drawing ability! There's a lot of talent floating around these streams!
I wouldn't know how to frame it in a post +Scott Cramer!
Glad to see you found a way! Andrew's post: http://goo.gl/WgsxS
Have You been sending spies to my studio +Scott Cramer? , how did you know I paint with my super hero costume on, 😉 just kidding. I do find this work interesting intellectually, I don't know if I could ever reach that level, for me it is more about the feeling and the images in my head. One thing I do have to edit once I start painting is the fact that I imagine many things in motion, so I have to capture that motion in a single image, and for me this is the tricky part.
+Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado I would love to see you teamed up with an animation team, then. I am now imagining that we are only getting a single snapshot; like an individual photo of a Cirque du Soleil show.
Thank you for taking time to come over and reply. Much appreciated. 🙂
Oh Scott… Now you have me imagining Eduardo recreating Ferdinand the Bull. 🙂
Not to be a fanboy, but I think his genius is still very much untapped. Honestly, same with a lot of you peeps. I am inspired daily.
Those are amazing paintings – looking at them as thumbnails above I thought they were photos before I looked closer. Very talented guy.
I just love reading +Andrew Clifton-Brown's thoughts here! 🙂
And yours as well +Scott Cramer! 😛
The yearning for creativity. To discover how best to express those inner feelings and emotions about a particular subject or moment of time, is a bit of a bumpy road to take but it's certainly worth it if you just keep plodding away at it.
With photography or illustration (or any creative force one chooses to express oneself with) it's constant learning and stretching to reach another goal.
It's never always the same, there's always something new to explore and achieve. It's one of the reasons I love it so much.
It can get very frustrating when you have a perfect picture in your head but you're just not "there" yet in the capabilities dept.
So… I focus on what I can do and remind myself that if I just keep at it I'll beat this particular hurdle, pose like Superman for a moment at the accomplishment ((strikes a pose)) then move on to the next unbeatable goal. ^_^
I fell in love with how, in art, you could seemingly tell an entire story within a single image. Or at least that particular image spurred my imagination to create an entire story because of it.
Vision… to take what I see in my head and convey it to the entire world is difficult and sometimes you don't hit the nail square on the head, or at least that's how it feels from a perfectionists standpoint.
Because what I feel or what I see, the wonder of all creation in that single moment, it's so beautiful and life changing… I know that if others could see how I see, even a fraction of what I see, they couldn't possibly leave unchanged and uninspired.
As for knowing what to draw, sometimes I have an image in my head either based on something someone said, a movie or book, or it's completely inexplicable out-of-the-blue inspiration.
Then there are those times it's just sitting down and doodling in a phone book when all of the sudden there's not just a bunch of lines, but a particular line that catches my eye and I get lost in concentration of creating whatever that line wants me to make it into.
Like once you have the basic form down on paper, I draw it again only with better paper and funkier pens, experimenting with mediums at first. Then the doodle becomes a sketch where the details start to emerge and then you think to yourself "this drawing needs more… such and such" until your once simple sketch becomes this giant, urm… thing of art.
So something that started as just a couple of squiggly lines on the edge of a bit of paper is now a cover for a book.
Similarly to what ACB already said… I don't let the initial concept dictate the end results. I don't know how it happens but the creation kind of takes a life of its own and I'm merely the instrument of Inspiration.
Did I answer your query? I think I did… I might have run on some tangents but that is kind of how it works with me.
Drawing, speaking, writing… you never know where I'm going to go with my ramblings! Haha!
Beautiful words, +Mary C.! I hope they make it to their own post on your steam! 🙂
You guys all inspire me. Thank you!
Thank you +Scott Cramer 🙂
Heh maybe someday, at the mo' I'm being ninja like as it's crunch time in the studio! XD