In the Black Fantastic

In the Black Fantastic
Author: Ekow Eshun
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2022-06-09
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0500777314

In the Black Fantastic assembles art and imagery from across the African diaspora that embraces ideas of the mythic and the speculative. Neither Afrofuturism nor Magic Realism, but inhabiting its own universe, In the Black Fantastic brings to life a cultural movement that conjures otherworldly visions out of the everyday Black experience and beyond looking at how speculative fictions in Black art and culture are boldly reimagining perspectives on race, gender, identity and the body in the 21st century. Transcending time, space and genre to span art, design, fashion architecture, film, literature and popular culture from African myth to future fantasies and beyond, this vital, timely and compelling publication is an expressive exploration of Black popular culture at its most wildly imaginative, artistically ambitious and politically urgent.

In Search of the Black Fantastic

In Search of the Black Fantastic
Author: Richard Iton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2010
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199733600

Prior to the 1960s, when African Americans had little access to formal political power, black popular culture was commonly seen as a means of forging community and effecting political change. But as Richard Iton shows, despite the changes politics, black artists have continued to play a significant role in the making of critical social spaces.

The Dark Fantastic

The Dark Fantastic
Author: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1479806072

Reveals the diversity crisis in children's and young adult media as not only a lack of representation, but a lack of imagination Stories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred. This problem lies not only with children’s publishing, but also with the television and film executives tasked with adapting these stories into a visual world. When characters of color do appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, reinforcing for audiences that not all lives matter. The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC’s Merlin, and Angelina Johnson from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Analyzing their narratives and audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black and brown people in our own world. In response, Thomas uncovers and builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism and Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities. Through fanfiction and other modes of counter-storytelling, young people of color have reinvisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives. As Thomas powerfully asserts, “we dark girls deserve more, because we are more.”

Afro-Atlantic Flight

Afro-Atlantic Flight
Author: Michelle D. Commander
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0822373300

In Afro-Atlantic Flight Michelle D. Commander traces how post-civil rights Black American artists, intellectuals, and travelers envision literal and figurative flight back to Africa as a means by which to heal the dispossession caused by the slave trade. Through ethnographic, historical, literary, and filmic analyses, Commander shows the ways that cultural producers such as Octavia Butler, Thomas Allen Harris, and Saidiya Hartman engage with speculative thought about slavery, the spiritual realm, and Africa, thereby structuring the imaginary that propels future return flights. She goes on to examine Black Americans’ cultural heritage tourism in and migration to Ghana; Bahia, Brazil; and various sites of slavery in the US South to interrogate the ways that a cadre of actors produces “Africa” and contests master narratives. Compellingly, these material flights do not always satisfy Black Americans’ individualistic desires for homecoming and liberation, leading Commander to focus on the revolutionary possibilities inherent in psychic speculative returns and to argue for the development of a Pan-Africanist stance that works to more effectively address the contemporary resonances of slavery that exist across the Afro-Atlantic.

A Blade So Black

A Blade So Black
Author: L.L. McKinney
Publisher: Imprint
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2018-09-25
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1250153891

"A Blade So Black is the fantasy book I've been waiting for my whole life." —Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give For fans of Marissa Meyer, L.L. McKinney's A Blade So Black delivers an irresistible urban fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland... but it's not the Wonderland you remember. The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew. Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head... literally. Debut author L.L. McKinney delivers an action-packed twist on an old classic, full of romance and otherworldly intrigue. And don't miss the thrilling sequel, A Dream So Dark! An Imprint Book "Mixing elements of Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Delectable." —Entertainment Weekly

Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta

Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta
Author: J. David Spurlock
Publisher: Vanguard
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2020-04
Genre:
ISBN: 9781934331811

Discover the world's greatest heroic fantasy artist, Frank Frazetta in the landmark collection, Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta. The New York Times said, "Frazetta helped define fantasy heroes like Conan, Tarzan and John Carter of Mars with signature images of strikingly fierce, hard-bodied heroes and bosomy, callipygian damsels." Frazetta took the sex and violence of the pulp fiction of his youth and added even more action, fantasy and potency, but rendered with a panache seldom seen outside of major works of Fine Art. Despite his fantastic subject matter, the quality of Frazetta's work has not only drawn comparisons to the most brilliant of illustrators, Maxfield Parrish, Frederic Remington, Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth but, even to the most brilliant of fine artists including Rembrandt and Michelangelo and, major Frazetta works sell for millions of dollars. This innovator's work has inspired generations of artists, movies including the Conan films, John Carter of Mars, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Robert Rodriguez' films including From Dusk Till Dawn, Ralph Bakshi films, the epic, Game of Thrones series, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Disney's animated Tarzan films, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and George Lucas' Star Wars. Forbes magazine said, "Which artist helped make Arnold governor? Frank Frazetta, the Rembrandt of barbarians." J. David Spurlock started crafting this book by reviving the original million-selling 1970s mass market art book, Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta. But, he expanded and revised to include twice as many images and, presents them at a much larger coffee-table book size. The collection is brimming with classic and rare works including barbarians, beasts, and beauties. Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin said, "Frazetta's covers of the Conan paperback collections became the definitive picture of the character... still is." Schwarzenegger said, "When I looked at Frazetta's paintings, I tell you, it was intimidating." Game of Thrones, Conan and Aquaman film star Jason Momoa said, "I am a huge Frank Frazetta fan. That's what I wanted to bring to life." See the revolutionary art that helped inspire Schwarzenegger, Momoa, the Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones: FRAZETTA!

Fantastic Worlds: The Art of William Stout

Fantastic Worlds: The Art of William Stout
Author: Ed Leimbacher
Publisher: Insight Editions
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-11-27
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781608878659

From his cult movie posters to his epic paleoart, celebrate the life and work of William Stout with this stunning monograph featuring the most iconic imagery from the multitalented muralist, illustrator, and designer. Muralist, illustrator, comics artist, poster designer—William Stout has created a body of work that transcends genre, medium, and industry during his astonishing forty-year career. He has designed album covers for the Who and the Rolling Stones, worked on films ranging from Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards to Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and brought the world of the dinosaurs to life through highly acclaimed paleoart. Now Stout fans can relive the life and career of their favorite artist with this breathtaking monograph. Curated by the artist himself, Fantastic Worlds: The Art of William Stout bursts with the most iconic imagery in Stout’s oeuvre. From his student years to his robust career as a painter, illustrator, and more, Fantastic Worlds gives readers an in-depth understanding of how Stout developed as an artist, illustrated by his most inspired work. Visually stunning and definitive, Fantastic Worlds is the ultimate Stout retrospective—the perfect way for fans to commemorate the extraordinary work of a one-of-a-kind artist.

Black Water

Black Water
Author: Alberto Manguel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 967
Release: 1983
Genre: Fantasy fiction
ISBN: 9780006548034

African Artists

African Artists
Author: Joseph L. Underwood
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021
Genre: ART
ISBN: 9781838662431

In recent years Africa's booming art scene has gained substantial global attention, with a growing number of international exhibitions and a stronger-than-ever presence on the art market worldwide. Here, for the first time, is the most substantial survey to date of modern and contemporary African-born or Africa-based artists. Working with a panel of experts, this volume builds on the success of Phaidon's bestselling Great Women Artists in re-writing a more inclusive and diverse version of art history.

Mirrorcity

Mirrorcity
Author: Chloe Aridjis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2014-07-23
Genre: Art, Modern
ISBN: 9781853323256

To accompany the Hayward Gallery exhibition of the same name, Booker Prize nominated writer Tom McCarthy edits a unique newspaper about the realities (and unrealities) of London. Patrick Kieller claimed in his 1994 film London that the city had disappeared, lost amongst the sprawling generations of its inhabitants.The city's consciousness has dissipated, its identity vanishing before our eyes. Just as the role of the print newspaper edges closer to the void, McCarthy seeks to explore the current, 'felt' realities of a place in a form that is on the verge of obsolescence.Going beyond the concept of definite roles and functions MIRRORCITY explores and celebrates the themes of reality, identity and the singular dimensions we all live in.A host of artists including Lindsay Seers, Ursula Mayer and Lucky PDF have contributed their texts and images on these themes within the context of the newspaper format - the results are as diverse and open-ended as the city. Contains a full-colour 'weekend style' newspaper magazine insert booklet.A unique conceptual and cerebral artist-led publication, MIRRORCITY will delight, intrigue and engage the intellectual. To accompany an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, 14 October 2014 - 4 January 2015.