Art For Art’s Sake
Since December 2023 I have contributed regularly to an American music blog (*), posting compilations of artists, groups, themes, whatever strikes my fancy.
Mike Mignola (1960-present): American comic book artist and writer best known for creating the Hellboy series.
Wassily Kandinski (1866-1944): Russian abstract artist known for his pioneering work in non-representational art and the development of abstract expressionism.
Last January I posted a collection of songs about artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and others, which was well received and generated plenty of comments suggesting other ‘worthy’ candidates (**)…
This led to a follow up which is posted together with this one! (***)
Last year I spent much more time on photography and the music blog.
Part of the reason is that my drawing last year had declined massively, and I felt I was repeating myself, which is never a good sign.
Instead, I focussed on something called ‘recycling art’, selecting panels from old pulp comics, and after filtering these, blowing them up massively. (****)
Good fun for sure, but drawing-wise zero input…
While selecting songs for the second collection I found one about Mondrian, a Dutch artist who was one of the pioneers of 20th-century abstract art.
I looked at some of his work and got intrigued as my mind works in odd ways.
Looking at Mondrian’s primary colored grids I started playing around with that, imagining these as rooms with doors that could be opened…
Then I had to think of my brother who’s an all-round plumber, perhaps some of those rooms would leak…
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944): Dutch De Stijl painter famous for his geometric, grid-based compositions that often featured primary colors.
And suddenly I started wreaking digital havoc on one of Mondrian’s famous pieces!
Next was reviving my Jolk character together with his sidekick Mr. Quackers, as a kind of ‘art plumber’ in a museum, commenting on the Mondrian mess.
A seed had been planted in the cauliflower between my ears, taking masterpieces (& lesser art), messing them up digitally, and let Jolk utter some nonsense.
M.C. Escher (1898-1972): Dutch artist famous for his innovative, mind-bending prints that often played with perspective, geometry, and other visual illusions.
Even so, I wanted to simplify my drawings and decided to use just a few Jolks instead of drawing a new one each time as I consider the mangled paintings the centerpiece of the strip.
One of the (many!) contemporary comic strips I follow is a Dutch one called Van 9 To 5 (from 9 to 5 *****), an office comic, that uses the same drawings over and over again (with minimal changes at times), with surprisingly funny results!
The concept of using one picture consistently in a strip is not new, David Lynch dreamed up The Angriest Dog in the World (******) in 1973!
In no time I started ransacking the internet for artworks of Van Gogh, Picasso, Magritte, a.o., and mucked them around.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890): Dutch Post-Impressionist painter famous for his expressive, emotive depictions of landscapes, still lifes, and portraits that often featured thick brushstrokes and vivid colors.
Next, I shared the first few with some friends and my sister for feedback, which turned out very useful.
The Dishonorable Edward Pastanga commented that it was cool but rather ‘highbrow’ and my American blog partner Jonder thought that ‘Your comic could help teach children about modern art!’
Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901): French Post-Impressionist painter famous for his vibrant depictions of Montmartre nightlife, including cabarets and brothels.
I decided on the name ’Art For Art’s Sake’ (thank you 10CC!), began to post them daily on Instagram, X, Tumblr, MeWe, and Pinterest, and in 1 week I finished 45 cartoons…
I asked Marvano and my sister more potential art candidates and whereas sis came up with some interesting unknown artists (Jawlensky anyone?), Mark mentioned comic artists like Gilbert Shelton and Richard Corben!
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989): Spanish Surrealist painter famous for his striking, bizarre depictions of dream-like scenarios and objects.
Gilbert Shelton (1940-2021): American cartoonist and illustrator associated with the underground comix movement and known for his humorous, satirical comics.
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903): French Post-Impressionist painter associated with the development of Symbolism and known for his bold, expressive depictions of primitivism and tropical landscapes.
From the old pulp magazines, I recycled some great covers for my cartoons and together with work from comic artists/cartoonists made some excellent (imho) mash-ups!
One problem I found was the accompanying text for each post, just adding tags only seemed a bit lame.
Egon Schiele (1890-1918): Austrian Expressionist painter and draftsman known for his intense, psychologically charged portraits and figurative works.
Then I thought more of Pastanga and Jonder’s comments and suddenly found a solution.
As some of the artists are obscure to say the least, I could use that space to add a one-liner with some info about the artists.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675): Dutch painter known for his highly realistic, intimate depictions of domestic scenes, often featuring women at work or leisure.
With the help of ChatGPT, I very quickly had those details ready and started using them yesterday.
The ideas keep coming and it will be fascinating to see where it will lead!
Hundertwasser (1928-2000): Austrian painter and architect famous for his colorful, biomorphic works that often feature dreamlike, fantastical creatures.
Keep in mind that it’s an ongoing process and occasional changes may occur, I already adjusted the layout a bit.
Let me know what you think and by all means, mention other potential art ‘victims’ for my series!
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997): American Pop Art painter famous for his comic book-inspired paintings often incorporating Ben-Day dots.
P.S. Don’t take art too seriously, I certainly don’t!
(*****) https://www.instagram.com/van9tot5/ (also on other social media platforms)
Digging the product & the process. Now you need to really turn it loose.
There s obviously plenty of fine-art to plunder, but I like the riffs on comic art. I lived in San Francisco in the 70s & love underground comics. Don't overlook R. Crumb, Kim Deitch, Skip Williamson, Gary Panter & all those great comix artists. Thanks Koen
I think you DO take art seriously.
As a lover of art and who spends a lot of time in art galleries, I was intrigued by your creations. How you have taken old masterpieces and created something new and entertaining -on another level- with them! Thank you for your work and sharing it, Koen!
I enjoy seeing the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers leading the Dali parade, Hellboy in a Kandinsky landscape, and the juxtaposition of pulp romance headlines with Schiele and Vermeer!
Who will Jolk repair next? Henri Rousseau? Paul Klee? Seurat? Naum Gabo?
Great stuff. This will keep me busy for quite a while. Thanks!