Edward Kwong

Before noticing that I was a sexist reader I was really worried that I had not done a post featuring a guy in quite some time. I decided to look for a little research note that I had saved a few months ago; way back in my Florida days I asked two talented male friends to do a lists of their favorite artists (because I thought my tastes were too biased, I needed a manly outlook on art). From one of those lists came the post about Dave Mckean (Top artist for Errez) and now, from the other, comes the post of Edward Kwong (one of Lerms top 5).

Edward Kwong was born in Vancouver, now lives in Montreal and that is basically all the personal information I have of him. There is a nice, small, interview on Ape on the Moon --> Here, where he talks a little more on how he decided to become an illustrator and about his creative process.

The first time I entered his web page I knew I wanted to post about him, but of course I felt completely overwhelmed, it was clear, from the get-go, that my lack of formal art training prevented me from truly enjoying and comprehending his work (therefore, hindering my chances of doing a proper post in his honor).

Still, I wanted to feature him on this blog and today was the right day for it, because yesterday as I was recapping about good books, I remembered the short story by Murakami called Super-Frog Saves Tokyo and Edward Kwong did an amazing illustration for it. Coincidence? I think not! more like a sign, from the Great Blogger above, telling me to have courage and write.

So I did.

Of course I get the Art Deco references on his pieces, my brain can go that far: Such clean lines and symmetric structures, geometric shapes used as textures. However there are still many other components that my eyes and heart obviously enjoy, but that my mind is unable to name or even pinpoint. I can tell you this: I find his pieces to be exquisite, sharp and elegant. I love the fluidity of his work and I adore the amazing way in which he incorporates Ben-Day dots* on some of his illustrations.

Have a look:

Superfrog Save Tokyo (Pi Theatre)
Poster for H. Murakami adaptation

Siren Whisper Sweet (Personal)
Mythos Project

Sniff Sniff (Personal)
Olfactory first impressions

Owl Requiem (Personal)

If you want more of his work (and I am sure you will) you can visit his Web Site (here) his DeviantART profile (here) or his blog (here).
You can also buy some of his prints at inPRNT (here).

Sis! Boom! Bah! (fanfare)
Daredevil Copyright Marvel Comics

* Ben-Day dots are the little, same diameter, dots used in print, to either create a secondary color out of primary ones or to generate shadows and textures. Made rather popular by the Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein.