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$24.95
96 pages
ISBN-10: 0867195746
ISBN-13: 9780867195743
Publisher: Last Gasp/Grand Central
» Out of Stock
A self-taught painter, Charles Krafft began his career in earnest in 1969 at the age of 20 after relocating from San Francisco to the rural Skagit Valley in northern Washington state. Formerly home to "mystic" painter Morris Graves, this area became central to a group of artists collectively known as the Northwest School. Influenced by the beauty of their natural surroundings and readings of Eastern philosophy, these elder artists had already developed the acknowledged style of the region by the time Krafft took up residence. He lived in Fishtown, an enclave of a younger generation of artist and poets living in rustic simplicity in abandoned fishermen's shacks along the banks of the Skagit River. Krafft quickly developed a reputation as a promising young talent and his work was exhibited and began to be collected in Seattle and beyond. At the dawn of the 1980's, he felt a growing sense of isolation in this idyllic setting and returned to his native Seattle. From a storefront studio in Chinatown, on the outskirts of the hub of the city's lively art scene, Krafft continued to develop a distinctive aesthetic apart from, but still influenced by his Northwest School mentors. Villa Delirium is the first ever collection of Charles Krafft's work. Ceramic bunnies, painted handgrenades, and tommy guns made of fine China grace the full color pages throughout the volume. Consider it a display of the weapons to put out when company comes over for a holiday massacre.
