The Drowned World & The Atrocity Exhibition

It might seem a tad hubristic to try and tackle an author whose covers and related visuals have been so much discussed and analysed when I'm still figuring out my own working methods, but I've been intending to produce some Ballard-inspired images for several years now. Ballard's writing is so visual in a specific, deadpan kind of way that I thought it unwise to stray too far from the literal content of the stories, and the Max Ernst references seemed like a way around this (Ernst was one of Ballard's favourite artists and is mentioned in both novels). I'd be interested in hearing what people make of these, especially from anyone who's familiar with the books, so feel free to leave a comment (I've also added my email address on the right).

Franciszek Starowieyski

Four images by the Polish artist and designer Franciszek Starowieyski, found while researching yesterday's post.

Jerzy Skarżyński

The art of Jerzy Skarżyński (1924-2004) seems to have been incredibly diverse, ranging from fairly typical Polish-style posters, through swirling biomorphic surrealism, to bizarre cartoons and comics. You can see examples of the latter (in Polish) here. He also (assuming the information here all refers to the same person) worked on set designs for the likes of Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Has. More images: one, two, three, four, five.