Rapture of the Deep: The Art of Ray Troll [Hardcover]

Ray Troll (Author), Brad Matsen (Introduction), David James Duncan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0520239474 | ISBN-13: 978-0520239470 | Edition: 1

For more than two decades, Ray Troll has been luring, hooking, and landing fans around the world with his zany, irreverent, and often surreal art. Featured in museums, galleries, and books, as well as on immensely popular T-shirts, his work--part natural history adventure and part underground comic--depicts beautiful and accurately drawn fish of all kinds, Northwest Coast totems, Freud and Darwin, fossils, resurrections of extinct animals, and much more.
Rapture of the Deep collects some of Troll's best-known art along with many images never before published. The book makes powerful connections between biological diversity, the evolution of life on earth, and the careless habits of people. Rapture of the Deep celebrates Troll's vision with legendary works including "Spawn Till You Die," "Life's a Fish and Then You Fry," and "Bassackwards," in which fish use money, liquor, and literature as bait to lure humans. Troll's running commentary reveals the thought and inspiration behind his art. Writer Brad Matsen, Troll's longtime coconspirator, adds a lively introduction to the art and life of his "sole" brother.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alaska artist Troll’s knack for making intricate, playful drawings of all things fishy has led to an empire of books, magazine illustrations, museum shows, gallery displays and decorated t-shirts. This large-sized, full-color volume presents an overview of Troll’s drawings, complete with commentary by the artist. Some of the pieces are amusingly tongue-in-cheek ("Rebel with a Cod," "Weapons of Bass Destruction," "The Lucky Fish Gets the Cheeseburger"), while others are beautifully surrealistic. But the most impressive are his grandly composed fish-scapes ("Fishes of the Amazon," "Bottom Fish of the North Pacific," "A Ratfish Called Troll"), in which layers of perfectly-detailed fish are arranged into brilliant panoramas. Matsen’s lively introduction provides lots of useful information about Troll’s life and aesthetic leanings, making this a must-have book for any serious fan of the artist.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Ever go to the Lost Fin Department to reclaim property? While encountering weapons of bass destruction? Strangely alluring, funny, and thought-provoking art of the fantastic and phantasms: this is the hip and popular work of Ray Troll. In his foreword, David James Duncan describes Troll as a visual philosopher of antic temperament fascinated by Darwinian science. Troll also draws on his love and respect for Alaska's indigenous cultures, and his humor will appeal to fans of The Far Side, as evident in this full-color showcase of the artist's best-known work from the past 20 years, which includes detailed depictions of fossils and giant salmons. Overarching his surreally comic views of fish, both realistic and imaginary, as well as birds and creatures of the Triassic, and expressed in his accompanying commentary, is Troll's abiding regard for and concern about ecology and the state of the earth. Lively and clever, Troll's work will appeal to art and animal lovers, fans of comics and graphic novels, and readers interested in marine life past and present. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520239474
• ISBN-13: 978-0520239470
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #859,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It will teach you and tickle your gills!, October 5, 2004

By 

Matthew J. Villano (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rapture of the Deep: The Art of Ray Troll (Hardcover)

Few can capture the mystery and peculiarity of science like Ray Troll. Whether he's painting the his favorite piscine pal -- the ratfish -- or he's sketching a paleontological history of a distant Montanan basin, Troll has a knack for mixing the perfect amount of fact with the perfect amount of fancy for an unforgettable experience. He's got a great sense of humor, too, as evidenced by some of his zanier and darker works. "Rapture of the Deep" is a great introduction to Troll's work, and gives readers a perfect notion of what it is that makes this artist so unique. It is a must for any fish- or science-lover who is passionate but doesn't take him/herself too seriously. Enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative Art Work and a Book the Makes you Smile, November 10, 2006

By 

A. Hale "Daughter of a Librarian" (Ashland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rapture of the Deep: The Art of Ray Troll (Hardcover)

This book will have you in your seat until the very last page. Ray Troll's art work is captivating and at times makes you laugh at loud. Not only should everyone take an opportunity to enjoy his artwork but go ahead and fly up to Ketchikan, Alaska and meet the man himself at his gallery, SoHo Coho. I promise he is just as colorful and vibrant in person!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, November 8, 2011

By 

tsunamimami - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rapture of the Deep: The Art of Ray Troll (Hardcover)

Just what I expected. Awesome art and detail. This is a fun book for family and friends. Makes me want to buy Ray Trolls artwork and I have plans to.