July 17, 2011
Beware of the God
Beware of the God, at Daniel Blau Gallery in London, featuring stained glass windows by UK artist/illustrator Neal Fox.
These are 2 of the 12 figures depicted in stained glass by Fox. The panel on the left depicts Albert Hofmann, who was the chemist who discovered LSD, while the other panel is of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the singer who discovered... well... Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
How the panels look installed in the gallery -
Yes, they do appear to be actual stained glass windows, fabricated by Mayer of Munich. In the 12 panels, 11 pop culture figures plus the artist's grandfather are depicted in stained glass windows. Why stained glass? It is because of the whole "stained glass = religion" idea. Because of the religion association, the figures automatically signify 'religion'. I have mixed feelings about this approach, whether it's in the Hard Rock Cafe windows or the old 33 Dunster St (now John Harvard Brew House) windows from the 70's.
The Neal Fox windows interest me more as another sign of comix and outsider art creeping into the general stained glass consciousness, with the increasing influence of comix artists like Daniel Clowes, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Charles Burns, plus a dose of Joe Coleman and Robert Williams. There is also the not-so-outsider art of Gilbert & George in the mix as well.
If nothing else, they are pretty wild looking stained glass windows, and I'm all for that.
Posted by Tom at July 17, 2011 02:15 AM