The Best Pop Surrealism Books

Pop Surrealism/ Lowbrow Art is an underground, pop-culture-infused art scene that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. 

Without further ado, here are the 11 top must-have pop-surrealism books: 

1. Pop Painting: Inspiration and Techniques from the Pop Surrealism Art Phenomenon by Camilla d'Errico
2. Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan
3. Pop Manga: How to Draw the Coolest, Cutest Characters, Animals, Mascots, and More by Camilla d'Errico and Stephen W. Martin
4. Pop Surrealism: What a Wonderfool World by Gianluca Marziani and Alexandra Mazzanti
5. The lowbrow art of Robert Williams by Robert Williams
6. Conceptual Realism: In the Service of the Hypothetical by Eric Reynolds and Robert Williams
7. Pop Manga Mermaids and Other Sea Creatures: A Coloring Book by Camilla d'Errico
8. The tree show by Mark Ryden
9. Sweet and Bizarre by Carolina Amell
10. Hyper Pop Surrealism IV: Hyper Pop Surrealism by Michael Andrew Law by Michael Andrew Law and Michael Law
11. American Surreal by Susan Landauer and Todd Schorr

Pop Painting: Inspiration and Techniques from the Pop Surrealism Art Phenomenon by Camilla d'Errico

Get ready for a behind-the-scenes look at the painting tools, methods, and inspirations of one of the top artists working in the growing field of Pop Surrealism.

For the first time, beloved best-selling author and artist Camilla d’Errico pulls back the curtain to give you exclusive insights on topics from the paints and brushes she uses and her ideal studio setup, to the dreams, notions, and pop culture icons that fuel the creation of her hauntingly beautiful Pop Surrealist paintings.  

With step-by-step examples covering major subject areas such as humans, animals, melting effects, and twisting reality (essential for Pop Surrealism!), Pop Painting gives you the sensation of sitting by Camilla’s side as she takes her paintings from idea to finished work.

This front-row seat reveals how a leading artist dreams, paints and creates a successful body of work. For fans of Camilla and the underground art scene, aspiring artists looking to express their ideals in paint, and experienced artists wanting to incorporate the Pop Surrealist style into their work, Pop Painting is a one-of-a-kind, must-have guide.  

Top 20 Pop Surrealism Artists | 21st Century Painters

Camilla d'Errico

Camilla d’Errico has gained wide acclaim for her illustrative work and has been nominated for the Joe Shuster Award and the Will Eisner Award.

She has worked with Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Hasbro, Disney, Sanrio, and Neil Gaiman, and created her own cult-sensation properties Tanpopo and Helmetgirls. She is also well known for her melting rainbow, big-eyed girl oil paintings, which have made her a hit in the international Pop Surrealism movement.

 

Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan

"Lowbrow" it may be called, but high-profile best describes the cultural impact of this contemporary art movement. Found everywhere from wine labels and high-end bar accessories to major motion pictures (Teacher's Pet, the upcoming Pink Panther), the visibility of this dynamic work has rapidly increased in the last few years to worldwide recognition and acclaim.

Weirdo Deluxe is the first significant manifesto of the genre riotous blend of pop culture, street culture, pop art, and surrealism and includes profiles of and interviews with 23 leading artists and hundreds of outrageous examples of their work. Special features include an expansive timeline and peeks at the artists' collections and influences.

Weirdo Deluxe is at once a primer and lowbrow art sourcebook as well as a visual homage to pop culture.  

Matt Dukes Jordan

Matt Dukes Jordan is a journalist, poet, actor, stand-up comic, painter, photographer, and filmmaker who currently lives in Los Angeles. His articles have appeared in Playboy Online, the Miami New Times, NoHoLA, and Venice magazine.

 

Pop Manga: How to Draw the Coolest, Cutest Characters, Animals, Mascots, and More by Camilla d'Errico and Stephen W. Martin

From comics to video games to contemporary fine art, the beautiful, wide-eyed-girl look of shoujo manga has infiltrated pop culture, and no artist's work today better exemplifies this trend than Camilla D'Errico's.

In her first instructional guide, D'Errico reveals techniques for creating her emotive yet playful manga characters, with lessons on drawing basic body construction, capturing action, and creating animals, chibis, and mascots.

Plus, she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at her character design process, pointers on creating their own comics, and prompts for finishing her drawings. 

Camilla d'Errico and Stephen W. Martin

CAMILLA D'ERRICO is a product of her early addiction to Saturday morning cartoons, comics, and manga. Her client list includes Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Random House, Tokyopop, Hasbro, Disney, Sanrio, and Neil Gaiman.

Her own characters and properties, Tanpopo and the Helmetgirls are international sensations, and her emotive paintings have propelled her to the top of the ranks of the New Contemporary art movement. In 2011 she was nominated for the Joe Shuster Award and the Will Eisner Award--the two most prestigious awards in comics. D'Errico lives in Vancouver  

STEPHEN W. MARTIN is a screenwriter and story editor in film and comics. He lives in Vancouver.

 

Pop Surrealism: What a Wonderfool World by Gianluca Marziani and Alexandra Mazzanti

Pop Surrealism: What a Wonderfool World" is a 96-page hardcover volume with over 75 full-color images from forty of today's leading artists in the Pop Surrealism movement.

This publication is the accompanying book to an exhibition of the same title at the Carandente Museum in Spoleto, Italy. Inspired by the show, the images in the book represent the most influential styles in the new contemporary art scene.

The participating artists are Mark Ryden, Ray Caesar, Todd Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, Shepard Fairey, Miss Van, Ron English, Joe Sorren, Gary Baseman, Tara McPherson, Scott Musgrove, Kukula, Mijn Schtje, Alex Gross, Marion Peck, Natalie Shau, Paul Chatem, Lola, Kathie Olivas, Leila Ataya, Jeff Soto, Esao Andrews, David Stoupakis, Tim McCormick, Nathan Spoor, Sas, and Colin Christian, Travie Louie, Jonathan Viner, Adam Wallacavage, Ken Keirms, Ahren Hertel, Kris Lewis, Aaron Jasinsky, Michael Page, Ana Bagayan, Naoto Hattori, James Jean, Tim Biskup, and Italian artists Nicoletta Ceccoli and Niba.

The vibrant and inspired images are complemented by critical texts from the exhibition's curators Alexandra Mazzanti of the Dorothy Circus Gallery and contemporary art critic and director of the Visual Arts department at Palazzo Collicola, Gianluca Marziani.

The book also includes interviews with Alexandra Mazzanti, New York-based gallerists Alix Sloan, Sloan Fine Arts, and Jonathan LeVine, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, and Seattle based gallerist and editor at large for Hi-Fructose magazine Kirsten Anderson, as well as an introductory text by Paulo von Vacano, publisher and CEO of the independent urban and street art publishing house known as Drago.

Pop Surrealism is informed by a combination of Pop and Surrealist Art. The fetish for the carnal elements of pop culture and production as well as for the subconscious and the visionary attitude of the Surreal is captured by Pop Surrealism's artistic current and is presented within the pages of "What a Wonderfool World" in a delicate balance between dream, reality, and folly.

Gianluca Marziani and Alexandra Mazzanti

Gianluca Marziani was born in 1970 in Milan, Italy. He has worked extensively throughout Italy as an independent art curator, an advisor to the city of Rome, and a consultant on the arts, communication, and new media.

He has written extensively on themes and trends in contemporary art and is one of the founders of Next Exit magazine, which focuses on life and creativity. He also is an editor for Fefe magazine and Next Mag. In May 2010 he was elected as the new director of the Carandente Museum in Spoleto. This is the second book he has worked on with Drago.  

Alexandra Mazzanti is the owner of the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome, Italy. It was her vision to construct a space dedicated to "Lowbrow" and "Pop Surrealism", which for her have become the most vital, stimulating, and controversial movements in contemporary art.

Her extensive knowledge, passion, and experience have led her to be a prominent and trustworthy figure in the new contemporary art world.

Famous Artist Of Surrealism And Pop Surrealistic Paintings 

 

The lowbrow art of Robert Williams by Robert Williams

Contemporary art critics are still struggling with the resurgence of outsider art, also called the new undergrounds. At the forefront of the clash between highbrow and lowbrow art is Robert Williams.

From his early comics work with Zap to his recent magazine Juxtapoz, Williams keeps pushing the public's buttons with his politically incorrect art agenda. The 'Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams' is the fundamental collection of his work, including 16 pages of full-color illustrations and almost 30 pages from Zap.

The cover is possibly the most recognizable Williams piece because it was used on a Guns N' Roses album Appetite for Destruction.

Robert Williams

Robert Williams's influence on alternative art is immeasurable. From his endeavors to broaden the possibilities for young artists to gain exposure sprang the well-known art chronicle, Juxtapoz magazine.

His books include Conceptual Realism and Hysteria in Remission. He lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife, Suzanne.

 

Conceptual Realism: In the Service of the Hypothetical by Eric Reynolds and Robert Williams

This hardcover limited edition of Conceptual Realism: In the Service of the Hypothetical is a hardcover, slipcased, signed and numbered catalog accompanying Robert Williams' Fall 2009 solo exhibition of new work at New York City's prestigious Tony Shafrazi Gallery; the show will continue on in 2010 to galleries in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and elsewhere.

The book features approximately 25 new paintings, complete with essays on each piece by the artist, insights into the process behind each painting (including sketches, underpaintings, etc.), and many other surprises, including an introduction by a painter, tattoo artist and international tattoo cultural advocate Don Ed Hardy.  

The alternative art movement of the late 20th Century found its most congealing participant in one of America's most opprobrious and maligned underground artists, the painter, Robert Williams.

It was Williams who brought the term lowbrow into the fine arts lexicon, with his groundbreaking 1979 book, The Lowbrow Art of Robt. Williams. It was from this point that the seminal elements of West Coast Outlaw culture slowly started to aggregate.  

Williams pursued a career as a fine arts painter years before joining the art studio of Ed Big Daddy Roth in the mid-1960s. And in this position as the famous custom car builder's art director, he moved into the rebellious, anti-war circles of early underground comix.

In 1968, Williams linked up with the infamous San Francisco group that piloted the flagship of the miscreant cartoon world, Zap Comix. Along with Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, S. Clay Wilson, Spain Rodriguez, Victor Moscoso, and Rick Griffin, Williams learned to function as an artist outside the walls of conventional art.

Known as the artist's artist, in early punk rock art shows held in after-hours clubs, Williams soon pioneered the first break-away art movement in California since the Eucalyptus School's estrangement from Impressionism in the late 1920s.

His bold use of underground cartoon figuration, paired with harshly contrasted psychedelic colors set a style that was an easily recognizable hallmark throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Williams' new paintings, on display in Conceptual Realism, take the viewer into the world of subjective theory--a mock realm of violated graphic physics, and the next logical step into abstract thought.  

Eric Reynolds and Robert Williams

Eric Reynolds is a Seattle-based cartoonist, critic and comics editor who works full-time for Fantagraphics Books editing books, in addition, doing publicity and marketing.

 

Pop Manga Mermaids and Other Sea Creatures: A Coloring Book by Camilla d'Errico

From the fan-favorite Pop Surrealist painter and graphic artist, this coloring book features stunningly beautiful black-and-white images of mermaids and other legendary beasts of the ocean drawn in Camilla d'Errico's signature manga-inspired style.

 

The tree show by Mark Ryden

Absorbing Roman poet Ovid's tales of transformation in "Metamorphoses" and adding his own dash of art-historical figuration and contemporary pop culture, Mark Ryden broaches new terrain with "The Tree Show." "Arcadian Gothic" might hint at the nature of this new work, and fans of Ryden will find familiar preoccupations in these new paintings, drawings and sculptures--made since his first solo show in 1998--transposed to new pastures.

Never reluctant to freight his work with layers of reference that range from Renaissance landscape and Neoclassical portrait painting to occultism and literature, in his latest works Ryden combines the arcane with pop-cultural images as the ground from which to make his carefully executed leaps into fantasy.

Ryden's series includes depictions of oak trees consuming children, floating tree stumps with "seeing" eyes, imaginary wood nymphs and mythological characters who personify Nature herself.

Ryden paints his characters with a masterful, porcelain glow reminiscent of Ingres and renders his trees with the care that evokes Audubon's botanical illustration. Several of his paintings are presented in elaborately carved frames that project their narratives beyond the canvas.

"The Tree Show" offers reproductions of these paintings and sculptures alongside the fruits of Ryden's research on the tree as myth--drawing from the Buddha's Bodhi Tree to Adam and Eve, the Sephiroth of the Kabbalah and matters of ecological science.

As such, this volume constitutes an enticing dossier on Ryden's encyclopedic exploration of the subject and reproduces in its entirety this series centered around the arboreal world.

Mark Ryden

Mark Ryden was born in Medford Oregon. He received a BFA in 1987 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990s during a time when many artists, critics, and collectors were quietly championing a return to the art of painting. With his masterful technique and disquieting content, Ryden quickly became one of the leaders of this movement on the West Coast.

 

Sweet and Bizarre by Carolina Amell

Sweet & Bizarre is a way of describing works of art from the Lowbrow movement, otherwise known as Pop Surrealism. The Lowbrow movement arose in 1979, led by artist Robert Williams after various art analysts struggled with categorizing his works. Many artists are now associated with this concept, including Mark Ryden, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Gary Baseman, Takashi Murakami, Xue Wang, Sara Sanz, and others. In the following pages, you will find fantastic works that will make you feel something sweet and bizarre at the same time, artists like Kazuhiro Hori, Xue Wang, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Marion Peck, Brandi Milne, and Dilka Bear. Each artist tells us about their trajectory and their more personal styles.

Carolina Amell

Carolina Amell is an experienced graphic designer specializing in illustrated nonfiction books.

 

Hyper Pop Surrealism IV: Hyper Pop Surrealism by Michael Andrew Law by Michael Andrew Law and Michael Law

incorporated with the idea of Appropriation Art turning into original artwork, and ideas inspired by the working methods of artists such as Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol, they often replicate and distribute existed images without the original creator's authorization or acknowledgment, but uses the images for different purposes in order to give new meaning to the so0called "stolen" images.

Michael Andrew Law uses this method often to take cultural icons or iconic images that are familiar and almost representative of the internet generation.

The visual style in iEgoism is also borrowed from German master artist Gerhard Richter's blur-ish photo painting, as well as Murakami Takashi's SuperFlat. young female figures.

Calligraphy and glitter can be seen throughout the series, but in a variable manner; digital 3D models and found photographs had also been used, as well as manga characters. iEgoism and Hyper Pop Surrealism consists of 7000 sketches, paintings and prints, 20 sculptures and 100 video artworks.

Michael Andrew Law

Michael Andrew Law was born in British Hong Kong in 1982. He studied paintings with Sam Tsang from the Central Academy of Art Beijing, New York painter Dan Anderson's art school, and film production from Roger Corman's film school, then quickly moved on to making his living as a comic artist, illustrator, film producer, and painter.

Law's works are appreciated and collected by many Asian notables. Indeed, perhaps never before has an artist displayed such an acute ability to capture the essence of youth. Law's most remarkable talent is his ability to bring modern painting techniques and styles to any given subject.

His works range from classical painting technique and near-abstract contemporary paintings to the almost photo-realistic, and he has mastered each difficult variant with remarkable aplomb. Michael Andrew Law has had three dozen popular artist books published of his works as well as his essay on contemporary art and films.

 

American Surreal by Susan Landauer and Todd Schorr

The latest collection of paintings by one of contemporary surrealism's most influential artists. American Surreal picks up where Dreamland, Schorr's previous bestselling collection of mind-bending paintings left off.

Look forward to countless hours of eye-bulging investigative thought while examining the impeccably rendered subject matter that has become the hallmark of Schorr's outrageous vision. This latest collection continues that journey culminating with the epic masterpiece Ape Worship included in this volume.

Schorr's paintings are the subject of two upcoming museum retrospectives and are highly prized and coveted by collectors the world over. American Surreal is sure to satisfy those with an overly-developed visual appetite.

Susan Landauer and Todd Schorr

Susan Landauer holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and is an independent curator and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Schorr, one of the seminal figures in what has come to be known as the Lowbrow or Pop Surrealism art movement, has continually and systematically set the bar ever higher in his quest to bring classic old master painting techniques to his pop culture-infused subject matter.

 

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