Sublime Surreality

'Future Man' 1970

 Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. But sometimes, it may take a little while to be able to fully appreciate it for what it is and the eye needs a little acclimitisation. This was very much the case when I first came across the surreal art of Richard Powers.

In the late seventies, Paper Tiger produced a series of art books on leading artists, such as Roger Dean, Chris Foss and Tim White, who had all illustrated album and book covers. I bought these on a regular basis, as most of my favourites also illustrated science fiction. Alongside the Paper Tiger books, were other similar volumes by other publishers, promoting other less prominent artists. One such book was 'Tomorrow and Beyond', a compedium of sci fi cover art, edited by Ian Summers. It included lots of the popular american artists, such as Michael Whelan, Vincent DiFate, Syd Meade, John Berkey and many others. I bought it as it had some illustrations I was really taken with, but there were others, which challenged my perception of good sci fi art and indeed, good art period. Some of the more outlandish work, I dismissed and passed over, concentrating on the more 'photo realistic' or recognisable - with big spaceships and exotic aliens.

Amongst the work that I had skipped over, were paintings in a completely unfamiliar style, which to my untutored eye, seemed entirely random and erratic. Blobby, swirling shapes and splashes of colour and tone decorated the page and I couldn't begin to fathom what they were meant to represent. As the book had many other more accessible works, I moved on and concentrated on artists who I felt I could learn from as I developed my own style of painting and art.

'Green Water, Monhegan' 19

A while after I left art college, I came across a couple of sci fi encyclopedias, which I read and enjoyed and which included thumbnails of book covers of seminal works. Very often, I would come across covers from Ballantine Books, from a variety of famous authors, which seemed to have a very distinctive style. Rather than the pulp rockets and spacemen or scantily clad damsels in distress, these covers were striking and original. Closer inspection revealed that these strange and sometimes unnerving visions were the work of one Richard Powers. I went back to my art book and reconsidered the surreal forms in Tomorrow and Beyond, in a new light. I think it must have been the typography coupled with the image and the titles of the novels which helped me understand the imagery better. These weren't depictions of actual scenes from the story, but were rather a response to or a suggestion of the tone of the book.

'Dorset Winter' 1949

 Some while later I found a Paper Tiger book about the artist himself and began to examine his art more closely. Powers had been illustrating Ballantine books since the fifties, using a surreal mixed media style, which was radically different from any of his contemporaries. Mostly working in oils, Powers would work large, on old door panels and embed glass and sand into his paint, to add texture and grain to the image. He worked quickly and expressively, as can be seen from the landscapes above - brush and knife strokes suggest, rather than depict the mountains and trees and broad sweeps of colour capture the power of the wave.

'Seville Procession' 1995

'Stories from the Clock strikes 12' 1961

 Powers worked on mostly science fiction and horror book covers and also began to develop his own science fiction story world - fFlar. This was presented in a limited edition portfolio of 16 prints in 1983, each with an attendant narrative, detailing the story of the bizarre world and the struggle of its inabitants to overthrough the yoke of slavery and incite revolution. Unfortunately, failing health prevented Powers from continuing his development of the world of fFlar and he passed away in 1996.

 Richard Powers legacy of amazing and unsettling artwork is distinct amongst his peers and is as different as it is sublime. Now that I understand the surreal and strange nature of his work, I have had a complete sea change in relation to art, rather than striving for a detailed and precisely depicted style of representation, I prefer the much more fluid and suggestive means of expression, which although it forces the viewer to work harder, can be so much more rewarding.

 Lately I have moved on from painting and traditional media, the protracted process of preparing a canvas, mixing paints, waiting for a chance to continue working and then often finding the effort invested in the work was entirely wasted - did not justify the means. Digital art and the power of Photoshop made me realise that I could complete in minutes something which would ordinarily take me weeks to complete. Even now, this process has been further supplanted by photography - digital cameras enable the idea to be captured, examined and if necessary, remade quickly and efficiently. I tend to work with my iphone mostly now and the currently available apps can simulate the surreal and ethereal light effects with ease. Powers art has led me to an appreciation of tone, colour and form which is acutely satisfying and easy to render, allowing a means of expression in complete contrast to the precise and detailed method which I originally tried to emulate. His surreal style has also taught me how to work fast and capture the moment, leading to a much more expressive and fluid style. I owe him much for educating my sense of aesthetics and helping me realise a dream.

Richard M. Powers 1921 – 1996  www.richardmpowers.com/

'Quasarquark of fFlar' 1951