Only recently "stumbled" upon the work of
Gary Card, the stage and props maker, painter, and illustrator. I say stumbled because I've seen much of his work before — nobody can miss it — but without actually knowing that he was the artist behind all those masks, set designs, and drawings.
These two spreads are by Gary, Jacob Sutton, and John Colver.
He is the Midas for kids (or kids-at-heart); everything he touches, he transports to Fantasy Land.
I'm sure this shoot by
Hedi Slimane and Alister Mackie for AnOther Man is familiar.
When I first saw this, I thought the use of billowing fabric was brilliant.
Literally makes a canvas out of the wind.
Points your attention to the importance of silhouettes.
Set design, which is meant for the theater, brings drama to editorials.
Optical illusions that are simply stunning.
Ribbons to counter spikes.
A flag raised in triumph.
This mask and these arm bands are familiar. Used for an editorial for Vogue Homme Japan, which I wrote about in terms of
Hedonism.
With just cardboard and tape (foam maybe and other materials), models are turned into caricatures of the anthropomorphic. A waterfall of boxes. (Or someone's head melting.)
Like muppets, they are able to hide the complex under the guise of the comic.
I think the reason such images become arresting lies in the simplicity of the statement. Is this all about pain? The sensitivity of the porcupine? (Or the acerbic non-morning person?)
Toilet paper cardboard can be used for play.
Childish games of battle and war, which know no limits.
Or simply to feed flights of fancy.
Here is a delightful editorial that came about from a collaboration between Card, Oliviero Toscani, Nicola Formichetti, and Vivienne Westwood for Dazed & Confused.
Wonderland meets Neverland meets
Pocahontas…
…meets
Lord of the Flies meets Halloween…
…meets
Where the Wild Things Are…
…meets Spongebob?
When these kids grow up to become nomads, they'll probably resemble these characters from an AnOther Man editorial.
I have a copy of that issue and when I first saw this I thought it was absurd. So messy!
But then the craziness of it all actually makes sense.
My room doesn't look any different from these backpacks.
It's the mix of patterns that goes with the mess of these camping contraptions.
Which look like an exploded swiss knife with hundreds of tools and gadgets.
I don't know where these masks were used. But they remind me of Punch and Judy as drawn by Dave McKean.
Probably prototypes for these pieces for Kafka covers.
Absurd enough for the works of the author.
Here's looking at you, I mean, smelling.
And here is the man himself, shot for AnOther Man magazine, and (perhaps unintentionally) dressed as a young David Hockney.
A proper tribute for Gary Card.
Take a peek into the amazing flat shared by Gary Card and Henderson McCue in London, from the eyes of Todd Selby
