“Edgy Cute” a new name for Lowbrow

Edgy Cute From Neo-Pop to Lowbrow and back again. This beautifully presented book was a birthday gift by my big bro who remembered I have a soft spot for ‘Lowbrow’ Art. It makes a great companion piece to ‘Pop Surrealism’ The rise on Underground Art, which I already have. While  Pop Surrealism’s articles and introductions are fun and informative about the growth of this scene, the artists contained within are widely documented elsewhere and are the darlings of Juxtapoz Magazine, who seem to tied in with the creation of this book.

Artist : Kirsten Easthope

‘Edgy Cute’ however, while I don’t recommend reading the introductory essays – way to turn a person off this kind of art, super pretentious!!!  And I’m not convinced I share most of Harry Saylor’s tastes, I do recommend for its broad overview of examples from the contemporary Pop/Lowbrow/Underground world.

Artist: Brandi Milne

I’ve discovered a few artists here for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised at the higher than average proportion of female artists represented, as well as a few UK-based artists making the cut in a genre of art that is largely considered American.

Artist: Mike Bell

I think Mike Bell’s ‘Bat Dance’ may well be my favourite image in the book.  What I like most about the work collected here is the cross over between fine art and illustration, cartoon, kitsch or other wise. It a book I’ll be browsing for some time.