Best Art Prints Of 2014: Kevin Burke, Filmmaker

Published on December 19th, 2014 in: Art, Best Of Lists, Horror, Movies, Science Fiction, TV |

I’ve had a great year as an art fan. It was really difficult to come up with a short list of my favorite releases, especially given that my own personal collection grew by almost 50 prints this year, but I’ve divided a list into two categories of some of my personal favorites of this year, in no particular order.

Top 10 Company Released Prints:

Where the Wild Things Are—Nicolas Delort, for Mondo

Delort absolutely nailed this print for one of my favorite films of the past decade.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea—Jonathan Burton, for Nautilus

This print is absolutely beautiful. I didn’t think Nautilus would be able to top their first print “The First Men in the Moon,”but with amazing art direction, paired with an immensely talented artist, they crushed it. Can’t wait to hang this one.

The Joker—Jason Edmiston, for Mondo

This is a screenprint. I’ll say that again: A Screenprint! Only Edmiston’s talent for using transparencies to make a handful of colors look like a million could make this possible.

The Graduate—Matt Taylor, for Grey Matter Art

Grey Matter dropped onto the poster scene like a neutron bomb this year, and making the great decision to license a cinema classic—a departure from the alt poster scene’s typical superhero/sci-fi/fantasy comfort zone—paid off huge.

Hannibal—Phantom City Creative, for Mondo

Justin Erickson is a master of both likenesses and composition, and though I’ve never seen the show, this print was easily one of my favorites of the year if only for the fact that it perfectly exemplifies Erickson’s immense talent.

The Sword in the Stone—Rich Kelly, for Mondo

The Sword in the Stone was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid, but it’s never really been at the top of the Disney appreciation chain. Not only did I not expect anyone at Mondo’s Disney show to tackle it, but I definitely didn’t expect anyone to capture the magical feel of it the way that Kelly did here.

Little Shop of Horrors—Ken Taylor, for Mondo

After his awesome solo show this year it was almost as hard to pick a favorite Ken Taylor print as it was to compile this whole list, but he crushed it with Little Shop of Horrors.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes—Gary Pullin, for Skuzzles

This was a late release this year that I’m nuts about. After taking a break to release some awesome Blu-ray cover art, Skuzzles hooked back up with the only man I can think of who could do Price’s immortal Dr. Phibes justice: Ghoulish Gary Pullin. I know that Phibes was on Gary’s wish list of properties to tackle and it shows in both of the awesome designs he created for it, but this one is my personal favorite of the two.

Night of the Living Dead—Killian Eng, for Grey Matter Art

Night of the Living Dead is not an easy property to tackle in a new way. Not only have there been many prints made for it already, but it’s a movie that is known to almost everyone, and to horror fans especially, inside and out. But Killian Eng’s somehow claustrophobic wide landscape composition represents the timeless flick in an entirely original way, and I love it.

The Birds—Laurent Durieux, for Mondo

I went to the Laurent Durieux solo show at Mondo this year to interview him for Twenty-Four by Thirty-Six. I came home with an incredible interview, an empty wallet, and five Durieux prints. Laurent is a perfect pairing for Hitchcock and I know you’ll see this print on many other “Best Of” lists this year.

Top 10 Indie, Commission, or Gallery Prints:

Godzilla—Chris Garofalo, for Poster Posse

In my opinion, one of the most innovative designs of the year, across the board. Chris captured the gravity and scale of Godzilla perfectly.

The Raven—Francesco Francavilla, for Hero Complex

It’s not easy to make an original piece of art that looks like it hung in a cinema in the ’60s, but Francavilla is a master of pulp and I was elated to snag this print when I was in L.A.

Guardians of the Galaxy—Orlando Arocena, for Poster Posse

A lot of cool art came out of the Poster Posse’s Guardians of the Galaxy project (there’ll be more on this list) and Arocena’s is definitely a stand out for me. His sharp vector style and affinity for vibrant colors capture the film’s tone perfectly.

Guardians of the Galaxy—Marie Bergeron, for Poster Posse

I told you there’d be more. Bergeron dropped the needle somewhere right between “Sixties sci-fi novella cover” and “independent comic book” and the result was awesome.

Halloween—Matt Ryan Tobin, for Hero Complex

I’ve had the good fortune over the past year, along with many other fans, to see Matt Ryan Tobin drop better and better prints with every new release. It was a great year to be a Matt Tobin fan and his Halloween print is proof of that.

Prometheus—Scott Hopko, for Hero Complex

When I saw Prometheus in theaters with friends some loved it, some hated it. The only thing that was for sure was that everyone was deconstructing the ideas that it presented, and Hopko captured that perfectly early in the year with this rad piece for Hero Complex’ “Imagined Worlds” show.

Afro Samurai—Paul Ainsworth, for Hero Complex

I was amazed to hear from Paul that he hadn’t seen Afro Samurai until he watched it as inspiration for this print, because it looks like it was made by a long-time, obsessive fan. This is Paul’s best work since his Back to the Future (which is saying a lot) and his cross-hatched, jagged style nails the tone of the anime classic, one of my favorites as both a kung fu and animated movie lover.

Lolita—Bartosz Kosowski, for Spoke Art

Creative as hell, Bartosz dropped jaws with this print at Spoke Art this year.

In an industry where minimalism has been done to death Bartosz was successful in taking it to new lengths.

Black Christmas—Gary Pullin

Gary Pullin is just one of those guys you wish you could hire full-time to create an art print for your favorite movie every payday.

I said it when this image was first released and I’ll say it again: You might as well retire Black Christmas from the pop-art property catalog because no one is going to be able to top Gary’s design here.

Guardians of the Galaxy—Matt Ferguson, for Poster Posse

Guardians of the Galaxy sure as hell inspired some awesome work this year, and this is another print that I can guarantee you will end up on a lot of other lists. The always-talented Matt Ferguson blew people away with this Star Wars-inspired design and deservedly captured the attention of a lot of new fans.

Kevin Burke is a filmmaker currently working on Twenty-Four by Thirty-Six, a film that explores, for the first time, the world of movie poster art; the artists who create it, companies and studios that commission it, galleries that display it, and collectors and fans who hang it. Twenty-Four by Thirty-Six aims to be released early to mid 2015.