As Awards Season comes to an end and Hollywood’s biggest stars hang up their fancy frocks for another year, we’ve been thinking about where film and art meet, and how both art forms have been instrumental in inspiring and informing each other.
Over the years, we’ve seen entire films created inspired by paintings, from Edvard Munch’s The Scream, to Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With A Pearl Earring.
Similarly, some of the most iconic scenes of all times have been ‘borrowed’ from the art world. Famous examples include scenes in Christopher Nolan’s Inception being inspired by the mind-bending worlds of M.C. Escher and Martin Scorsese borrowing Shutter Island’s defining final image from Gustav Klimt’s, The Kiss.
Looking around the walls of Enter Gallery, it’s clear that the attraction is mutual, with the allure of the movies inspiring many an artwork. In today’s blog, we’re looking at a selection of our artists whose work is a celebration of cinema and its biggest stars…
Maria Rivans
Inspired by the actors that made an impression on her when she was a child, Maria Rivans has celebrated many an icon of the silver screen, including Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland.
Every artwork in her celebrated Pin-Up series is meticulously-planned, with each element making up her starlets’ headdresses carefully chosen to reflect the actors identity, and the roles they have played.
RYCA
Given his love of popular culture, Ryan Callanan AKA RYCA has often referenced film in his art. Over the years, we’ve watched him draw inspiration from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, The Wizard of Oz, Reservoir Dogs, Alien and more.
In fact, his love of film runs so deep, he has created a whole new typographic show around popular quotes from film and TV that evoke emotion and nostalgia. Words Are Weapons is taking place at Enter Gallery on Friday 31st March, and if you’re a film lover, it’s not one you’ll want to miss. RSVP here to secure your spot.
Sarah Arnett
Brighton-based artist, Sarah Arnett is best-known for extravagant works inspired by her time spent living in various tropical paradises across the globe. But it’s not just her journeying around the world that’s sparked much of her art, Arnett is also inspired by her creative explorations through poetry, literature and film.
One example is Arnett’s aptly-named piece, The Movies Were Her Escape. In the artwork, Arnett pays tribute to Anna May Wong, an actress who called out the film industry for racial typecasting of Asian actresses. Arnett explains: “I present her as a mother or creator, part-astronaut part architect of a new world – all the parts she never played.”
InkCandy
London-based graphic designer, InkCandy is a film fanatic, raised in the 80s in the golden age of videotapes. He claims his interest in film was sparked by a neighbour who ran a video shop out the back of his Ford Fiesta, and would swing by every Friday with all the latest releases.
This love of film is integral to his Close Up series, which is inspired by Italian film director, Sergio Leone’s iconic ‘Italian Shot’, i.e. the extreme close-ups seen in classic Westerns like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. Many a director has borrowed this shot, most notably, Quentin Tarantino.
In his Film for Thought series InkCandy dives deeper into his favourite movies, capturing his preferred flicks via quotes about food. The series includes infamous lines from beloved films including Wall Street, The Lost Boys, Back to the Future and Pulp Fiction.
Film lovers will adore all the nerdy details the artist slips into the design, including the director, year of release, and fun handy hints to give a helping hand to those who can’t quite place the film.
Mark Vessey
It’s not just film visuals that can spark artistic magic, sometimes it can be the music that brings the story to life. In Soundtracks, from his coveted Collections series, Mark Vessey compiles the greatest movie soundtracks of all time.
Look closely at the well-worn spines of the records and you’ll spot classic soundtracks from popular musicals like Grease, Cabaret and Funny Girl, cult classics like Easy Rider, Trainspotting and Cocktail, and box office hits, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
The magic of Vessey’s pieces is that they can whisk you back years or decades to where you were, and even who you were, back when you watched these movies and heard these songs for the very first time.
View works by Mark Vessey.
Dirty Hans
Contemporary artist, Dirty Hans creates high-impact digital collages, many of which are inspired by classic cult movies and the talented stars that make up the cast.
Across his oeuvre, his hyper-real works are always a showcase of his love of film, immortalising everyone from the biggest and baddest gangsters in film history, to megastars like Gene Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and Julie Andrews.
Graham Carter
Graham Carter is a prolific printmaker and illustrator who has garnered awards and international acclaim for his fantastical landscapes and the creatures that he creates.
Exploring his oeuvre, you’ll soon spot that his works feature beloved characters, robots and monsters borrowed straight from the movies. Whether it’s the Ghostbuster’s Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the Iron Giant exploring the sights and sounds of Japan, or the AT-AT Walkers from Star Wars, Carter’s love of film is clear to see.
Anthony Freeman
Anthony Freeman is known across the world for his interpretations of photographs of the most influential figures of our generation. Whether immortalising politicians, pop stars or princesses, every piece captures the inspirational magic of these idols.
Over the years, Freeman has captured legends of the silver screen, including everyone from the leads in Brighton Mod masterpiece, Quadrophenia, to Steve McQueen and Audrey Hepburn.
