Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Spectrum (Underwood Books))

Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Spectrum (Underwood Books)) Review

And the best is very good indeed. The Fenners continue this annual tradition of seeking out and displaying the year's best fantasy art. You might think that, with so many hundreds of works shown here, there would have to be a few clunkers. I admit, I like some less than others, but even those generally rise to very high levels of skill and wit.

Except for the high quality and underlying theme of fantasy, I don't think any one statement would be true of all the works presented. Media cover a wide range, including oils, pen/ink, acrylic, watercolor, and digital - but digital without the computer-y look of past decade, digital with real delicacy and feeling. Styles cover the whole imaginable range, and maybe a bit more. Giancola's "Red Sonja" has a naturalistic style, an almost romantic image of a lethal warrior. Others, like Juan's "Chronomancer," blend elements of Dali's floating surrealism with hints of Sorayama's robo-babes in a unique blend. Others draw on every visual style from the Hudson River landscape artists to comic books and way beyond. Moods of the images include comical, horrific, delicate, monumental, mysterious, brooding, and seemingly every other sense that a picture can convey.

Dimensional (sculptural) work appears too, and includes some my favorites in this collection. Virginie Ropars's charmingly creepy statuettes each stand as a labor of love, but I like the steam-punk visions or humor of Rivamonte, Lambert, and Northey, too.

Whether you like the heroic, humorous, dark, or delightful, this collection has plenty for just about any taste in visual art. I expect to come back to this, like others in this annual series, again and again.

-- wiredweird

Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Spectrum (Underwood Books)) Overview

With art drawn from a wide variety of sources — books, graphic novels, video games, films, galleries, and advertising — Spectrum 15 reinforces both the importance and prevalence of fantasy art in today’s culture. Featuring over 300 exceptional works by artists from around the globe, this gorgeous full-color collection celebrates a cadre of creators working in every style and medium. Included are luminaries such as Brom, James Gurney, Marc Gabanna, Shaun Tan, and 2008’s Grand Master Award winner, John Jude Palencar.

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