Beery Method Studios contribution to Weapon of Choice! exhibition curated by Hero Complex Gallery and hosted at Design Matters LA is a rather intelligent character. My favorite all time detective and classic crime fighting genius Sherlock Holmes immediately came to mind when I got the call for the epic collective show. Rather than choose a physical weapon of character Holmes is imbued with the most perfect hidden ammunition of all: Logic (astute logical reasoning).
Alongside Holmes’s brain he skillfully holds a deep pocket of artillery when detecting and stalking his infamous perpetrators of Historic London. Heavily adept with Athletics, Artifice, Intuition, Logic, Observation, and Scholarship it is the ever so prominent use of Holmes’s primary intellectual detection method abductive reasoning which gives his being such pulp and immensity as a stoic revelry. The logicians use of modus ponens of careful observations and straightforward inferences are ingredients to his famous maxim “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.
Breaking the legend down into four primary sectional elements very much like earth, wind, fire, and ice we have the human feature which is Sherlock’s chiseled face and hand toting his beloved calabash pipe. Peel away the flesh and revealed is the bony sub-structure of his skull. The skeletal element also pays reference to the darkside of Sherlock Holmes as well as his habitual side as well as the vice of his bohemian lifestyle of experimentation. It is no secret Holmes imbibed on not only the poisons of tobacco but indulged in cocaine and even morphine. The third element and key to the piece is the weapon of his fleshy brain in bright rich pink hues. Radiant bursts accentuate the power boldly kept deep in the genius. The fourth and final elemental feature is of material and pays homage to the classic hat and scarf of the consulting detective.
The 18.5×13.5″ cradled piece is comprised of several layers of various media. Utilizing a mixture of custom aerosols for sub-painting layers and textures with a collaged decoupage of original clippings from a Conan O’Doyle book the initial layers are rich with character reference and diverse tonal palettes. The final bold line work of the portrait was completed with more aerosols over a highly detailed stencil. All the way to the houndstooth pattern the piece is extremely detailed in a rather clean yet comic-book inspired style reminiscent of my past illustrative work.
The theme revolves around art inspired by prominent characters of fiction, historical reference, or pop culture, and their relationship with their iconic “weapon,” that one thing that is inextricably tied to their character. Perhaps their weapon is provocative like seduction, or stealth, or sex, or power. Or perhaps its that one item that brought them fame or dishonor, like Hendrix’ guitar, Lenny Bruce’s microphone, or a samurai’s final honorable act of seppuku.
But it could and should live in traditional weapons from pop culture and fictional influences too. It could be Hellboy wielding his mighty Right Fist of Doom, Slim Pickens as Major Kong riding The Bomb to oblivion in Dr. Strangelove, or the ending scene of Romeo and Juliet with the fateful poisoned dagger. Perhaps it’s Indiana Jones cracking his bullwhip, Alabama Worley’s final act of desperation with the corkscrew in True Romance, Peter Vincent warding off vampires with his cross in Fright Night, or Mad Max tearing down the ripped up desert asphalt in the last of the V8 Interceptors.
Whatever the weapon of choice, the gauntlet has been thrown down and the artists have seized the challenge with some amazingly clever concepts. We’ve already seen a few of the artist previews and they are proving to be a testament of how exhilarating the variations of this theme can be.
Please come join us to see the weapons of work! RSVP by clicking Join on Facebook.