Clin D'Oeil - Jan 2004
Introduction - The Art [& Design] of Illustration
The evidence is right in front of your eyes, you are holding
it in your hands; illustration is back.
It had to happen; finally making a dramatic return to form the
discipline has stepped back in from the wilderness, from almost
a self-imposed exile, after too long away from the spotlight.
Of course, the time was ripe for a radical re-emergence, re-birth,
re-invention, or rejuvenation: call it what you will, but who
would have dared guess at how this transformation would take place?
Illustration has always existed in a pretty interesting space.
It occupies an area that sits some place between art and design.
Never truly considered to be an adjunct of art with a capital
ïAÍ, nor allowed to wholly exist as a solo design discipline,
without the prop that is graphic design, illustration has often
been disowned by both artists and designers, whilst continually
taking knocks from both sides too.
In the world of art, a blanket refusal to acknowledge the importance
of the role that illustration plays and the cross over from art
to illustration occasionally being deemed appropriate but visa-versa
rarely accepted. Meanwhile, over in the design world, designers
plunder freely from the fields of illustration, yet infrequently
taking any responsibility for sowing new seeds, little time or
space being given to nurture growth in emerging talent.
So, ïdespite ofÍ rather than ïbecause ofÍ its relationship with
art and design, illustrationÍs recent dramatic return to form
should be seen for what it is; a remarkable self-initiated transformation.
Although not before time, I hear you utter, and it is fair to
say that illustration, globally, had been in a depressing state
of affairs, had begun to look tired, worn-out, run-down, jaded
and out of fuel.
ïSomethingÍ had to happen and happen it did; a new breed of illustrators
with something to say, with the ways and means of saying it, started
to command control. No longer pandering to the needs of dull business-to-business
corporate clients: a savvy, more fashion-conscious, style-aware
illustrator started to create images for an audience made up of
its own peers. The ever evolving ïstyleÍ mags; on the hunt for
cutting edge and creative ways of staying visually ahead of the
pack as well as record labels eager to promote new independent
bands alongside fashion companies tapping into a zeitgeist created
away from the glare of the photographerÍs lens, all took the bait
willingly.
A renegade, but global, group of illustrators and image-makers,
albeit independently, started to set new standards in illustration,
aiming at a new audience. Young, keen, motivated but ultimately
talented illustrators bucked trends; creating work that felt good,
looked right and had attitude. A raw mix of the digital, the analogue,
the traditional, the photographic, the hand-drawn, the stencil,
theƒ nothing was out of reach to a group that believed that the
creative outcome was more interesting than the technical input.
This new breed felt empowered by technology, not confused, as
had the previous generation, having spent more time avoiding it
than embracing it.
Utilizing digital technology, once held captive by designers,
and creating images about subjects that they were motivated by,
in the same way that artists approach their own work, new illustration,
for a short time, was not dictated by client demands. In fact,
this quest for creating new forms of image making had meant that
much was done outside of the confines of the commission. Illustrators,
acting like artists, initiated their own projects; followed their
own instincts, set their own parameters and then just like designers
sought out new clients, previously unimpressed with the offerings
from yesterdayÍs generation of illustrators.
Not all the new work followed the age-old mantra that deemed that
the best illustration contains a great ïideaÍ; much of this new
work captured a flavour, a mood, an essence or a moment. For many,
it was about the look and feel, more than the communication of
that ïcleverÍ idea. Gritty urban backdrops vie for attention with
drawings of beautiful, yet often vacant looking people, set against
themes that include sex, relationships, music, fashion; sometimes
dark and surreal, sometimes humorous and playful. The strand that
holds this range of diverse subjects and picture making skills
together, as evidenced in this book, is the belief in the importance
of the creation of unique new visual worlds. Those that truly
exist in that space where art and design meet have reinvented
and rejuvenated illustration, forcing the discipline back out
into the light. This time, contemporary illustration is a force
to be reckoned with.
And the evidence is right there in your hands.
Lawrence Zeegen
January 2004
