Across the country today, streets (and schools) everywhere will be flooded with characters from books. Whether it’s Harry and Hermione, Willy Wonka and Matilda, or the old classic, Where’s Wally, it’s fantastic to see people celebrate literature and how it inspires our lives.
We love a good book, and so, it seems, do many of Enter Gallery’s artists. So, in honour of World Book Day, today we’re taking a look at how our artists have been inspired by literature.
Harland Miller
Once upon a time, Harland Miller decided to celebrate his lifelong long of language by painting vintage Penguin Books, and it’s safe to say that story has a happy ending!
Whether it’s via his own critically-acclaimed novels, or his giant canvases offering irreverent takes on Penguin books of the 1960s and '70s, literature has always been a guiding light for Miller. Speaking of the potential of language, and his love of words, Miller has stated:
“People read before they can stop themselves, it’s automatic. Words offer a way into what you’re looking at, but no matter how integrated the text is, no matter how much you might think it’s synthesised into the painting, there is this imbalance in terms of how much the words are doing as words.”
Marcelina Amelia
Brighton-artist, Marcelina Amelia uses books in her artworks to communicate the mindset of the modern women she depicts. While her titles may be tongue-in-cheek, they also communicate the power of books to educate us and expand our consciousness.
Whether her subjects are introducing themselves to the concept of empathy, or claiming their insatiable hunger for life and all its trimmings, Amelia’s works demonstrate how we turn to books to help us become the people we aspire to be.
View artworks by Marcelina Amelia
The Connor Brothers
The Connor Brothers borrow the style of vintage pulp fiction books to offer their stylish and sardonic take down of life, love and everything in between.
In recent works, the artistic duo have interpreted the iconic design of Penguin Classics, choosing to manipulate Penguin’s ‘Modern Psychology’ category to make wry statements on everything from mental health and politics, to drug use and relationships.
View artworks by The Connor Brothers
Dirty Hans
Dirty Hans draws inspiration from popular culture to create high-impact collages, jam-packed with Easter eggs that people can’t get enough of.
From The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, to Peter Pan and Little Red Riding Hood, Dirty Hans displays his love of the stories that make us who we are, loud and proud.
Mark Powell
Mark Powell is another Brighton artist who uses his work to celebrate great writers and the impact they have across the world.
Powell has created life-like biro portraits depicting some of the most influential names in literature, including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Hunter S. Thompson.
Kate Jenkins
We can’t mention book interpretations without mentioning the fluffy works of Kate Jenkins. While she usually prefers to depict our favourite foods, the deliciousness of literature certainly hasn’t escaped this Brighton artist!
Jenkins has offered her knitted adaptions of two iconic works of literature, Brighton Rocks by Graham Greene, and Jaws by Peter Benchley.
