Icons Unmasked

Ever wonder if the characters you see on TV, in movies and in comic books are hiding something behind their masks? That perhaps they're really someone -- or something -- else? When pop culture is such a huge part of our lives, we're bombarded with these characters everywhere we turn. Each time we see a new character in a movie, video game or commercial, we feel a sudden sense deja vu. There's something about their goofy grin, that creepy laugh, or those boogly eyes that feels eerily familiar...This got me thinking. Is anything we see ever 100% original? Or is everything we experience really just our minds piecing together past experiences to create something that feels unique and new?In Icons Unmasked, I'm trying to bring a new sense of discovery to characters everyone has seen hundreds of times. I wanted to recreate the experience of what it might be like to see one iconic character from your childhood for the first time as an adult. Proceed at your own caution and keep in mind the following illustrations cannot be unseen. Your childhood might possibly be destroyed forever

Over the sixty years of his existence, Batman has encountered an impressive array of cultural icons and has gradually become one himself. This acclaimed book examines what Batman means and has meant to the various audiences, groups and communities who have tried to control and interpret him over the decades. Brooker reveals the struggles over Batman's meaning by shining a light on the cultural issues of the day that impacted on the development of the character. They include: patriotic propaganda of the Second World War; the accusation that Batman was corrupting the youth of America by appearing to promote a homosexual lifestyle to the fans of his comics; Batman becoming a camp, pop culture icon through the ABC TV series of the sixties; fans' interpretation of Batman in response to the comics and the Warner Bros. franchise of films.

In The Icon and the Square, Maria Taroutina examines how the traditional interests of institutions such as the crown, the church, and the Imperial Academy of Arts temporarily aligned with the radical, leftist, and revolutionary avant-garde at the turn of the twentieth century through a shared interest in the Byzantine past, offering a counternarrative to prevailing notions of Russian modernism. Focusing on the works of four different artists—Mikhail Vrubel, Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Vladimir Tatlin—Taroutina shows how engagement with medieval pictorial traditions drove each artist to transform his own practice, pushing beyond the established boundaries of his respective artistic and intellectual milieu. She also contextualizes and complements her study of the work of these artists with an examination of the activities of a number of important cultural associations and institutions over the course of several decades. As a result, The Icon and the Square gives a more complete picture of Russian modernism: one that attends to the dialogue between generations of artists, curators, collectors, critics, and theorists. The Icon and the Square retrieves a neglected but vital history that was deliberately suppressed by the atheist Soviet regime and subsequently ignored in favor of the secular formalism of mainstream modernist criticism. Taroutina’s timely study, which coincides with the centennial reassessments of Russian and Soviet modernism, is sure to invigorate conversation among scholars of art history, modernism, and Russian culture.

Savage. Menacing. Ruthless. Predators get a pretty bad rap. Sure, they prey on helpless animals that never stand a chance, but behind those jagged teeth, powerful jaws, and razor-sharp claws, every predator has a softer side. Maybe even an adorable one. Everyone has compassion for the cute bunny or lamb. But what about their predators who are working hard for their meal? Capturing their prey is a life-or-death game. Just think about the last time you had to hunt for food while hangry. You can understand, right? Including famous quotes from history that give context to these disturbingly cute illustrations, Alex Solis shares his sense of humor while giving readers a way to enjoy the darkest parts of life with a smile. It’s time to give theses predators a break! Because, in the end, both predators and their prey play a role. I mean, it’s not their fault they were made this way! They’re just living off of instincts, doing what comes naturally to them. So rather than turning away from nature, let’s celebrate all the animals who complete The Adorable Circle of Life.

Geïllustreerde beschrijving met achtergrondinformatie over de tentoonstelling 0,10 gehouden in Sint Petersburg (Leningrad) in 1915 met werk van Russische avant-garde schilders

Baby Terrors Coloring Book - The killers, monsters, murderers and bad guys drawn by Alex Solis in their infant years.

Icon and Devotion offers the first extensive presentation in English of the making and meaning of Russian icons. The craft of icon-making is set into the context of forms of worship that emerged in the Russian Orthodox Church in the mid-seventeenth century. Oleg Tarasov shows how icons have held a special place in Russian consciousness because they represented idealized images of Holy Russia. He also looks closely at how and why icons were made. Wonder-working saints and the leaders of such religious schisms as the Old Believers appear in these pages, which are illustrated with miniature paintings, lithographs and engravings never before published in the English-speaking world. By tracing the artistic vocabulary, techniques and working methods of icon painters, Tarasov shows how icons have been integral to the history of Russian art, influenced by folk and mainstream currents alike. As well as articulating the specifically Russian piety they invoke, he analyzes the significance of icons in the cultural life of modern Russia in the context of popular prints and poster design.

"A sumptuous, beautiful collection of cyborgs, sushi, and monsters–this book is a feast for the eyes and a phosphorescent display of creativity. Other than watching an octopus make love to a rainbow, I can’t think of anything I’d rather stare at than this book." – Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal It's adorable, explosive and has more chibis than an Akibahara game store. Welcome to the whimsical world of Cute Grit, the digitally rendered pop art debut by video game developer and artist Enfu. Comprised of over 1,000 illustrations, this fantastical collection explores the intersections between video games, art and the Asian American experience through the lens of Enfu's wild, east-meets-west style. Re-discover your favorite game villains, cartoon characters, icons and cityscapes in a digital universe where Enfu unites the loveable, the warped, and the fantastic in a world both foreign and familiar, sweet and surly, gritty and cute. Ken "Enfu" Taya enjoys his day job in the video game industry as a developer for titles such as Halo 3 (XBO 360) and Scribblenauts Unmasked (WiiU, PC, 3DS). His commissioned illustrations and murals can be seen in stores and restaurants across the Pacific Northwest, and his popular bilingual comic, I Fart Rainbow, enjoys success in print and digital media outlets. Other Enfu collaborative projects include Enfu Snaps hats, Bombsheller leggings, and customized t-shirts. His first indie game, Matchfu, is set to release in late 2014. Ken Taya lives in Bellevue, Washington, with his wife and daughter.