The Art of John Harris: Volume II - Into the Blue E-Book

John Harris

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 65

Beschreibung

This second volume from Titan Books is a collection of world-renowned visionary artist John Harris' unique paintings captures breath-taking, otherworldly vistas on a massive scale.The Art of John Harris II: Into the Blue is the third collection (second collection published by Titan) of world-renowned visionary artist John Harris' unique paintings that capture future worlds on a massive scale, from vast landscapes and towering cities to breath-taking vistas. Readers will get a unique insight into the creative process behind the worlds depicted in the paintings as Harris takes them on a journey from sketch to finished painting, as well as his striking covers for a variety of esteemed science fiction authors, including John Scalzi, Ben Bova, Jack McDevitt, Orson Scott Card, Ann Leckie and many more.

Leseprobe

THE ART OFJOHN HARRIS

VOLUME II

INTO THE BLUE

THE ART OF JOHN HARRIS: INTO THE BLUE

ISBN: 9781789099553E-book ISBN: 9781803363653Limited Edition ISBN: 9781803363479

Published by Titan BooksA division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd.144 Southwark St.LondonSE1 0UP

FIRST EDITION: OCTOBER 2022

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© 2022 John Harris. All rights reserved

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A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

THE ART OFJOHN HARRIS

VOLUME II

INTO THE BLUE

INTRODUCTION BY PAUL LIZOTTE

COMMENTARY BY THE ARTIST

INTO THE BLUE

Between the towering cloudsI see the Infinite Blue.Reflected here in the HeartEndlessly pulling me through.As if, all along, I knew itto be not other than myself.

JH | 2021

LEFT: The Way Across, oils on canvas

PREFACE

“EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE IS REAL.”

Pablo Picasso

This challenging remark, from an artist of such titanic stature, is like a slap inthe face of Realism. So, it must seem strange that I, as an artist of imaginativerealism, should be using it to preface my own work, but, on reflection, it is in itsambiguous nature that the statement works so well for me.

The wise say, it is our power of attention that gives rise to the world, and newphysics suggests that this is indeed the case. If that is really so, then what partdoes imagination have to play, if any?

It seems to me that imagination is at the very heart of the human experienceand has properties that are nothing short of godlike. Not only does imaginationhave the power to create out of virtually nothing, but also sharing ourimaginations with others influences them to change our future. This is especiallytrue when it is linked to the emotional self, as in the business of creating stories.Most of us are habitual daydreamers. In my case, daydreaming is a specificand deliberate act with which I summon images, springing from an idea such asbeing a Traveller voyaging through Space and Time and recording the Wondersfound among the Stars in Drawings and Paintings.

All of this was hinted at in my last book, Beyond the Horizon, which waspublished by Titan more than six years ago. Since that time, quite a few morepictures have been added, and my understanding of the role of imagination hasevolved, including the part that preliminary drawings have to play in easing thebirth of new ideas.

So, here in this new collection, are not just more pieces, but also a great numberof sketches and preliminary drawings which lie behind them – an example ofwhich can be found to the right.

A fair number of images were in previous books, and these have been includedwith their original sketches. In some cases, I have returned to earlier piecesand reworked them, often on a much larger scale, in oil on canvas, frequentlybecause the earlier pieces were produced using a very fragile medium and whichare now only ghosts of their original form.

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THE ART OF JOHN HARRIS |INTO THE BLUE

ABOVE: (Top to Bottom)Earth Abides, sketch;Earth Abides, sketch 3, pastels on paper

PREFACE

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ABOVE: Earth Abides, oils on canvas

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THE ART OF JOHN HARRIS |INTO THE BLUE

PREFACE

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RIGHT:Building The Ark,oils on canvas

OPPOSITE:Building The Ark,sketch, pastelson paper

The comparisons between old and new are interesting (I’llgo into more detail with examples later). One thing thatemerges is that, while the execution of these revisits maybe very different, the vision remains constant and as freshto me as when I conceived them. I can only assume thatthe psyche from which they came remains unaltered.

All of the images in this book may be seen as something ofa personal lexicon of science fiction imagery, and it musthave become increasingly clear that there is a certainflavour of atmosphere that runs consistently through allof this mindstuff that produced these images. Most artistswould, probably wisely, steer well away from examiningthis too closely, and allow the work to speak for them. ButI have, over the years, had a lot of questions directed atme about where I get such images from, and have heardhow frightening so many of them are to some people.

There are some very obvious reasons why people reactin this way, and it’s mostly to do with the feeling ofinsignificance that such images induce, and the sense ofa universe that is utterly indifferent to our personal fates.

And it surely must be true that the stars really do notcare whether Arthur Dent has lost his towel (thanks toDouglas Adams). But I feel this is not an entirely modernperception. In fact, I would go further to suggest that thenew paradigm of contemporary physics sees things in anentirely different way. Instead of time and space beingseparate from us, they are, in the most profound andintimate way, part of our being. We are conscious of theUniverse and all knowledge and science is determined byand through that consciousness. At the very least, we arein a state of unknowing and it is this which gives rise tomy sense of awe. The unfathomable depths of space areperfectly reflected in ourselves and it is this sense whichgives rise to what I paint.

What I hope to do in this new book is to show not onlythe further fruits of a traveller among the stars, but todescribe in more detail how these images, old and new,emerge and, if possible, reveal something of their source.

JH | 2021

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THE ART OF JOHN HARRIS |INTO THE BLUE

INTRODUCTION

By Paul Lizotte

John Harris is a contemporary artist working in the Orientalist tradition.In the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Orientalist movementintroduced amazing new sights and cultures from the Eastern world, throughthe creation of paintings and drawings, to the Western world. However, Johnis not bound by any location on this planet: his work transcends Earth, andhis reach is limitless. John Harris is an Astralist.

My first encounter with John was not through correspondence or a face-to-face meeting with him – it was at my local bookstore. I noticed thatthere were quite a lot of books with covers that struck my eye. I discoveredmost were the work of John Harris. To this day, John’s paintings strike achord in me that few other artists can reach. His vision and imaginationtouch me to my core. Wonderful spacecraft, megalithic structures, unknownand forgotten technologies, massive machines, extraterrestrial landscapes,lost or newly discovered cultures, and futuristic cities are just some of John’ssubjects – and all connect with me.

With a John Harris painting, one is struck immediately by the astonishingsense of scale. I am talking about scale in almost every sense of the word.