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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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By A. Murrill
Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Guy Stryder
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!
In any case, highly recommended!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Brett Bryan
Amazon Verified Purchase
What a fantastic book. The layout is beautiful and Travis has added really great background stories for his inventive and interesting extended family. A great family album to add to your art collection. Bravo!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Travis Louie's Curiosities
This was a gift requested by my daughter-in-law for Christmas. It arrived in excellent condition and was larger than I expected with large pictures of each curiosity. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Sherry Kerns
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a riot!!!
I love this book...the art the character summaries. They're all just great! I just discovered this book a few months ago and I can't get enough of these pictures.
Published 23 months ago by Library Empress
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterpiece
It is one of the most beautiful books I have seen. I can't think of the words to do it justice, you must see it yourself.
Published on December 5, 2010 by D. Plantagenet
4.0 out of 5 stars
Obscure and Imaginative
It goes off into a realm of pure imagination. Great technique and wondrous creativity.
Published on December 16, 2009 by F. F. Dumlao
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