Travis Louie s paintings come from the tiny little drawings and writings in his journals. He s created his own imaginary world that is grounded in Victorian and Edwardian times. It is inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, and otherworldly characters who appear to have had their formal portraits taken to mark their existence and place in society. The underlining thread that connects all these characters is the unusual circumstances that shape who they were and how they lived. Some of their origins are a complete mystery while others are hinted at. A man is cursed by a goat, a strange furry being is discovered sleeping in a hedge, an engine driver can t seem to stop vibrating in his sleep, a man overcomes his phobia of spiders, etc, . . .Using inventive techniques of painting with acrylic washes and simple textures on smooth boards, he s created portraits from an alternate universe that may or may not have existed.
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About the Author
Travis was born in Queens, New York. His childhood weekends were spent at the local comic shop and at the neighborhood cinema. He marveled at rocket ships, superheroes and giant monsters. He did thousands of sketches of genre characters like Godzilla, King Kong, and Ray Harryhausen creatures. As a young adult, he attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After a few years of freelancing, he began his current body of work. The influences for his fine art are genre films, human oddities, circus sideshows, old Vaudeville magic acts, Victorian portraits, and things otherworldly.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You owe it to yourself...,
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This review is from: Travis Louie's Curiosities (Hardcover)
I've been admiring Travis Louie's work online for about a year via the Circus Posterus artist group. I had an opportunity to meet and speak with Mr. Louie several months ago. He's a wonderfully nice, down to earth guy and a real professional. Being a cheapskate, I'd normally just save a couple of jpegs off the internet of artists I admire, but Mr. Louie was such a gentleman I was prompted to buy his book.
I was not disappointed. The book is lovely from cover to cover. The format is large enough to see details of the paintings, but not so large as to be a Pretentious Art Monograph. I'd recommend the hardcover edition. The cover has a nice embossed effect as if the cover illustration were inset, and the endpapers are faux-antiqued. Book nerds will appreciate the attention to detail here. I have a strong suspicion Mr. Louie is a book nerd as well. Inside, the format is of a full-page portrait painting facing a single-page biographical sketch of the character(s) depicted. Truly the characters remind me of Edward Gorey's, but brought to life in front of Mr. Daguerre's camera. The paintings are masterful, beautifully rendered portraits of monsters and weirdos. Mr. Louie is firstly a visual artist, involved in the gallery world and beyond. To compare apples to oranges, the prose sketches are the weaker part of the book. But I am happy to forgive his being a lesser Shakespeare: this book is first and foremost a book of paintings. (At any rate, I'd rather read the exploits of Miss Bunny and Krampus over the deathly boring text of the Pretentious Art Monograph any day!) The work overall gives the impression that there is more to be explored with these characters and the universe they inhabit. It remains to be seen if Mr. Louie will continue in the portraiture vein or branch out into more narrative images. It would be interesting to see him collaborate with a writer of fantastical, historical-tinged fiction, or even to illustrate books in the tradition of the Hildebrandt brothers. At this price point why not go for it? Highly recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book! Fun and whimsical.,
This review is from: Travis Louie's Curiosities (Hardcover)
Travis Louie's book Curiosities is an enjoyable romp through someone's imaginary family album. The amazing thing, too - as far as I know from a gallery in Montreal at which some of his works were for sale - is that all these black and white photographs are entirely painted with oil. I'd love to know for sure as his technique defies any impression of brush strokes.
In any case, highly recommended!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's very hard to pick a favorite,
By
This review is from: Travis Louie's Curiosities (Hardcover)
A favorite website, that is, to see Travis Louie's incredibly detailed art work -- "Hello Kitty" which appeared on his blog last November is so memorable that I made it wallpaper on my computer screen to remind me to search on his name periodically. His pieces are so various, and appear in so many different places, that it is a joy and an adventure to search them out.
"the Ghost of Laura from the Reeds", which appeared on the blog (and elsewhere) epitomizes "the strange myths [his] characters believe in; the myth of floaters, the origin of the "bad hair", the myth of the "others" ...." Her eyes are so piercing, they seem to be seeing a whole new reality beyond my ken. But, the rich and beautiful details make the search for that reality a real joy. This well produced book contains a "permanent" collection of Louie's work, one that I'll keep on my desk and refer to whenever I need to journey out of myself. But I'm going to continue to search the Internet for new examples -- or old examples in new contexts. The About section describes his art about as well as anything I've seen, short of seeing an actual work, or perusing this beautiful little volume: Travis Louie's paintings come from the tiny little drawings and many writings in his journals. He's created his own imaginary world that is grounded in Victorian and Edwardian times. It is inhabited by human oddities, mythical beings, and otherworldly characters who appear to have had their formal portraits taken to mark their existence and place in society. The underlining thread that connects all these characters is the unusual circumstances that shape who they were and how they lived. Some of their origins are a complete mystery while others are hinted at. A man is cursed by a goat, a strange furry being is discovered sleeping in a hedge, an engine driver can't seem to stop vibrating in his sleep, a man overcomes his phobia of spiders, etc, . . .Using inventive techniques of painting with acrylic washes and simple textures on smooth boards, he's created portraits from an alternate universe that seemingly may or may not have existed. ***** Whether you have any interest in art at all, you really should sample his work -- you may discover a new passion. Robert C. Ross 2010
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