Issaquah resident and fantasy artist Laurie Lee Brom will be judging and selecting artwork to be included in a newly designed printing of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s 1818 novel “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.”
SuperMonsterCity! is celebrating the 200th anniversary of this classic story by asking artists of various mediums to create and submit artwork representing his or her interpretation of a section of the famous science fiction novel. Brom is one of five esteemed judges that will review submitted artwork to The Frankenstein Project.
The call for original artwork is resulting in entries from a diverse swath of artists from around the globe including Bhutan, England and the United States. One submission has come from a previous Hugo Award-winner. A five-person national panel of judges representing a cross section of industries and genres will select submissions to be featured in a newly designed printing of the original text.
“This project is meant to honor and celebrate the enduring legacy and impact of Mary Shelley’s work across generations and around the world. Shelley’s monster reveals the challenges of being misunderstood, the terror inherent in being an outcast, and a pathway for us all to become empathetic toward the ‘others’ among us,” SMC! Co-founder Stephen Rueff stated in a press release.
Contemporary artists, illustrators and designers can use any of the messages and themes or thoughts and emotions shaped from the novel to inspire and create their own original art. This latest edition, accompanied by the original 1818 text, will reflect different styles, mediums and interpretations instead of using one illustrator’s style throughout the book.
The winning artwork will be announced January 2018, followed by the release of the redesigned book. Two types of books will be produced: a limited-edition leather-covered hand bound with color plates and a print-on-demand hard or cover book with color or black and white plates.
Artists appearing in the books will retain the rights to their work, granting SMC! provisional rights. Artists whose artwork is selected and featured will receive a portion of proceeds from the sale of books and in various media. All submissions will be published in a companion art book. Additional details about the project and submission process can be found at SuperMonsterCity.com/the-frankenstein-project. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 30.
Brom’s work has been on exhibit from New York City to Belgium to her most recent at the LA Art Show. Brom grew up in the historical town of Charleston, South Carolina, where the local ghost stories and folk tales of the swampy Low County, and rich Gullah culture stirred her imagination. She spent untold hours pursuing pixies and tree frogs in the hollow logs and Pluff Mud of her own backyard. Today, she still pursues fairy folk along with all manner of curious ghosts and odd characters in her enchanting portraits and paintings.
SuperMonsterCity! celebrates monsters, superheroes and villains through touring museum exhibitions, books, special events, and more. Co-founder and master collector David Barnhill’s collection of more than 200,000 toys, comic books, posters, and films of the scary, supernatural, and villainous is one of the largest private toy collections in America. Pieces of the collection tour with ‘Toys of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s’ and ‘America’s Monsters, Superheroes and Villains: America’s Fear at Play’. Stephen Rueff is co-founder and managing director of SMC! as well as the exhibit curator.
