"The purpose of Art is washing the daily dust off our souls."
~ Pablo Picasso
What is "Art"?
A simple Google search reveals that "Art" is "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."
As an artist who studied at two of the top art schools in the nation, I have heard the word "art" debated and redefined more times than I care to discuss. Add the word "good" to make it "good art" and the discussion quickly descends into an argument. Now try to draw a line between "fine" art and "commercial" art or rate the merits of working traditionally as opposed to digitally and you have started a war... At least amongst artists.
Why? Because what constitutes "good" art versus " bad" art is purely subjective. I'm not even sure its accurate to label any art as "bad" simply because perception and aesthetics vary wildly from person to person. So what I call "bad art" you may see as a beautiful and profound example of artistic expression.
In the past several decades a new genre has emerged in the form of "Geek Art". By 2015 the concept of taking certain popular cultural icons (such as characters from a video game or feature film) and illustrating them in a new style or rendering them in a different context is nothing revolutionary. But it has made for some very excellent art.
For Christmas last year my wife bought our oldest son a book that she saw at a local street fair. One look at the cover and I was mesmerized.
Geek - Art, An Anthology of Art, design, Illustration and Pop-Culture.
Available from Chronicle Books by clicking here.
What's inside? I'm not going to show you. Not because it's not awesome but because "Geek Art" is more than just a book - it's the tip of the iceberg that represents an entire culture. A very rich, detailed culture that you can explore by going to their site - http://www.geek-art.net
Created and curated by a man named Thomas Olivri who (in his own words) is dedicated to "Discovering passionate talents and sharing them to the world..." , essentially "Geek Art" is a collection of some pretty amazing artwork created by a horde of very impressive artists who just happen to be geeks. Wonderfully talented, mind-bogglingly imaginative geeks who have become masters in their chosen disciplines.
Mr Olivri himself is something of a self-avowed super-fan of "... epic comic books, cult movies, awesome cartoons, brilliant fantasy literature, astonishing science-fiction, extraordinary TV shows, amazing video games, fantastic role playing games… And Star Wars." In the creation of Geek-Art.net he has taken his fandom and transformed it into a truly unique contribution to the world of "Good Art".
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