EDITED BY R KLANTEN AND H HELLIGE
Published by Die Gestalten Verlag 2007
ISBN: 978-3-89955-191-4
€ 44.00 / $ 65.00 / £ 33.00
va | Academic Published 2007
Review by Derek Brazell
What do you do when first faced with a pleasingly heavy book packed to bursting with images? Have a flick through, pour over certain pictures, feel overwhelmed? Or perhaps just start at the beginning, taking your time over a thoughtful introduction which generates questions about the images as you take them in later.This introduction, by Claudia Mareis, acknowledges that the ‘self image of contemporary illustration is a highly ambivalent one’, and states that the book provides a selection of ‘the most exciting and innovative contemporary trends in illustration while refusing to draw the line between commercial and artistic illustration.’ Quite a lot to live up to then.
Claudia makes a case for drawing as the foundation of imagery, being more than a mechanical/manual function – more a generator of knowledge. The historical background to illustration which Claudia describes raises the (seemingly eternal) on-going question of when illustration is art, and her comments give the images a solid subtext which not all of them deserve.
Illusive 2 covers a variety of headings, separating certain styles and types of work from Naïve and Basic to Vector, and includes short interviews with selected illustrators. In Fashion and Style Laura Laine’s playfully drawn gawky women with swirling underwater hair summon up more character than the passive gaze of many of the other images in the fashion section. Pattern and Surface produces many gloriously convoluted images covering textile and giftwrap. Catalina Estrada Uribe’s symmetrical patterns keep your eyes dancing across their surfaces, catching new details as they move.
Typography and Illustrated Letterform eschews the obvious, though appealing, hand-rendered type which has covered much mainstream publishing for several years, and touches on images incorporating letters and words constructed through images. James Dave’s ‘Spook’, a word created for Halloween branding proves readable and intriguing, with suitably thirty-first of October elements weaving through the word. Si Scott’s successfully familiar curling, tendril like style also impresses, and this whole section begs the question as to why more isn’t more being done with type and letters in design/illustration?
Vector covers the expected clean lines, but pulls out some beautifully complex pictures from Famille K/Stephane Kiehl, and interviewed illustrator Katrina Olina. The constant sharpness of the work here keeps everything pictorially on the surface, but produces great eye candy. Pencileers And Ink collects many disparate drawing styles, from Usngrows’s broad painted curves and Tatiana Arocha’s atmospheric black and white animal titled, vegetation covered pictures, to Matt Lee’s sweet but strange line drawings of characters praying. The bold lines of Gary Taxali, who is featured in Varoom 06, appear here, as do Heads Of State’s more simplistic approach, with a subtle use of texture which draws the eye after busier pictures.
Unsurprisingly, given Claudia Mareis’ argument in favour of drawing, this section is the largest in the book.
Illusive 2 holds many complex images that delight, whilst generating admiration for the time you assume must have been invested in creating them, contrasting well with more simple pictures. Much of the work is unpublished, which as many illustrators know, can produce some of the best images – underlining the introductions assertion that no distinction is held between commissioned and self-generated work.
The subject matter of much of the work is similar. Amongst quite a few animals and curious beasts there is an abundance of the (sexy) female form, which appears to reinforce the unwillingness of image makers of both sexes to engage in giving the male the same attention, even in unpublished work. Is this due to commissioners’ reluctance, illustrators own disinterest, or the choices made by the collators of Illusive 2? Either way, it slightly undermines Illusive 2’s claims for displaying innovation.