This week the, Bluewater Productions will publish the
German artist Willi Bloess-produced graphic novels that include "homage
biographies" for such luminary artists as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso,
Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. The series is
titled "The Milestones of Art.
The six 40-page graphic novels that are available now in
print at Comic Flea Market as well as digitally on ComiXology, ITunes, Nook
& Kindle are:
Milestones of Art: Andy Warhol: The Factory
Writer: Willi Bloess
Artist: Annette Schulze-Kremer
In 1961, Andy Warhol resolved to become the chronicler of
the affluent society.. His series of consumption products is heralded by
hand-painted dollar bills, coke bottles, and the 32 varieties of Campbell's
soup cans. In 1968 he is shot down. The doctors declare him clinically dead.
But Andy remains productive for nearly 20 years more. He dies in 1987. Author
Willi Bloess asked Annette Schulze-Kremer to draw this comic biography as a
reference to the 1960 years and to Mort Drucker, one of their favorites from
the magazine MAD.
Milestones of Art: Frida Kahlo: Viva Mexico
Writer & artist: Willi Bloess
Frida Kahlo called herself "Daughter of the Mexican
Revolution.” At the age of 18 she had a terrible traffic accident with the
result of great pains for the remaining 28 years of her life. She created
around 70 self-portraits. She painted when she felt sick and had to lay in bed.
When she felt good, she preferred to live an exciting life. But while her
husband, Diego Riviera, amidst the Mexican macho society, could live his
immorality in public, she had to arrange her dates with other men covertly.
Milestones of Art: Keith Haring: Next Stop Art
Writer & artist: Willi Bloess
At the end of the 1970s, Keith Haring decorates the walls
of the subway tunnels in New York with simple, two-dimensional characters. His
tag is "The Radiant Child.” In contrast to the graffiti scene, which
consists of little more than repetitions of such tags, Keith develops a diverse
language of symbols. They seem to be mystic messages. In 1990 Haring dies, aged
31, from AIDS.
Milestones of Art: Pablo Picasso: The King
Writer: Willi Bloess
Artist: Thomas Thiesen
Involved in expressionism, cubism, and surrealism,
Picasso was an outstanding painter during the first half of the 20th century.
Innumerable publications to his person have appeared. In contrast to them, this
short guide delivers an overview of the life and work of the controversial
genius in not so many words and entertaining pictures. By developing a
cubistic-influenced comic style, author Willi Bloess and illustrator Thomas
Thiesen come close to their aim: explaining art by art.
Milestones of Art: Salvador Dali: The Paranoia-Method
Writer: Willi Bloess
His whole life-long, the surrealistic painter Dali was
obsessed to come to terms with three key moments of his childhood in Spain. 1.
The fear that in his parent’s eyes, he is only a rebirth of the dead first son,
2. The shocking effect that the pictures of venereal diseases discovered in his
father's library have had on him, and 3. The betrayal of his father, whom he
found in bed with his mother's sister. His "floating clocks” gain
worldwide famousness and become a symbol for a reality losing control.
Milestones of Art: Vincent Van Gogh: The Chase of Ravens
Writer: Willi Bloess
Vincent van Gogh dies at just 37 years old. He is only
engaged in painting for the last 10 years of his life. Restless and exhausted,
he travels through the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, and France. Together,
with his colleagues Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Gauguin, he is regarded
today as one of the most important artists of the expressionism movement. This
comic guide, written and drawn by Willi Bloess, catches the main marks of the
master's life and refers optically to the unerring style that Van Gogh used for
his sketches.
Print versions of the 40 page graphic novels are
available on Amazon and Comic Flea Market.