Friday, February 11, 2011

Art Imitating life or Life imitating art?




eeeriely similar how fiction imitates real life. Or how real life imitates fiction.
W magaazine cover used for reference purposes.
   I drew the All About Marilyn cover way way back in October 2008 (concept in 2007). It was published in December of 2009.

W Magazine photographed this cover of Kim Kardashian for its magazine around 2010 and published it in November of 2010.

Both feature nude women.
Both were done for artistic purposes.
Both feature red censor bars over the model's private areas with white letters.
All About is the title of both photos and in the theme of the story of the pictures.
And both pictures have been photoshopped within an inch of their lives.


The cover with Kim Kardashian was for W magazine's art issue.

I was being artistic with Marilyn's abstract cover.

eeeeeerie coincidence.

Sure there are differences like the placement of the figure in the photo, the gray background, the race of the models,  and the font of the letters, but it's kind of an eeeerie coincidence how art imitates life. 
 
Who knows?
 
Kim feels embarrassed by this photo. She feels it's porn.
 
I was always proud of Marilyn's cover. I know it's art.

I also feel proud knowing that the cover I drew  for one of my self-published books is actually viable in a commercial marketplace. 

Perhaps I have more talent than I think.
Or W magazine is stooping to the lowest common denominator for sales.

I don't read W magazine, but I do know talent.

And both are great covers.

2 comments:

  1. Like I said earlier Shawn--does make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?????????? Such an artistic visionary/pioneer ahead of his own time and a true pop icon in his own right!

    ~Liz Isaacs
    Lotus Writing & Communications
    http://lotuswritingcommunications.net
    http://lotuswritingcommunications.wordpress.com
    http://lizwrites.wordpress.com

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  2. Thanks Shawn for always bringing us such perceptive comments on today's artistic scene. I guess since cavepeople drew figures on their walls, people have been arguing pro and con about just what is acceptable and what isn't. I truly think that both pictures are just great. And yes, I think they were stealing a bit of your thunder. It happenns; you bet it does.

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