Faerie artist Brian Froud is one of our favorite illustrators of the weird and fantastical — but we're especially fascinated by his design work on The Dark Crystal. Now a new exhibition is opening in New York that showcases the work of Brian, Wendy and Toby Froud, plus some "lost" Labyrinth concept art.
Check out an exclusive gallery of some amazing Dark Crystal and Labyrinth art from the exhibition!
The exhibition Brian Froud: Visions for Film & Faerie opens Dec. 2 at the Animazing Gallery in SoHo, New York. In addition to all the Dark Crystal art, there's a site-specific installation — and Wendy Froud has recreated Kira, Dark Crystal's Gelfling, for the exhibition. Kira stands 33 inches tall and was sculpted using hair and beading from the original film production.
with a signing featuring the Frouds on Dec. 3, with some proceeds going to the Jim Henson Foundation. There's also a screening of The Dark Crystal, introduced by Brian and Wendy Froud, on November 20, and a special talk at the American Society of Illustrators on Dec. 2.
Here's the complete press release:
This December, Animazing Gallery will be presenting the first U.S. exhibition of Brian Froud's paintings and drawings, including original artworks from his published, international best-selling books and all of his concept drawings from Jim Henson's film Labyrinth. The exhibition will be open to the public daily. Animazing Gallery is located at 54 Greene Street (at Broome) in SoHo. For more information: 212-226-7374 or visit www.animazing.com
Brian Froud is regarded as the pre-eminent fairy artist of today and has redefined the image of Faeries in the 21st century. Froud is part of a long lineage of faerie painters and illustrators including Arthur Rackham, Richard Dadd, Walter Crane and Edmund Dulac and his work has hung alongside these exceptional artists - the greats of the genre - in museum exhibitions throughout the U.K. Froud's imagery; sensual, humorous and at times frightening, has rescued fairies from the Victorian nursery, to which they were relegated for so many years, and returned them to the dark, elusive and mysterious world of Faerie where they belong.
In November, 1998, Sotheby's "Realm of the Mind: Fantasy Art and Illustration" featured the work of such artists as; Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Bell Scott, Richard Doyle, John Anster Fitzgerald, Walter Crane, Simeon Solomon and George Cruikshank. Brian Froud's painting from Good Faeries/Bad Faeries was chosen for the auction catalogue cover.
With over 30 books in publication and over 8 million books sold to date, Brian Froud's best sellers include Good Faeries/Bad Faeries (Hugo and Chesley Awards), Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (Hugo Award), the Faeries' Oracle and Lady Cottington's Fairy Album. His international best-selling book, Faeries with fantasy and Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee, published in 1978 and reissued in 2002 and again in 2010, is considered a modern classic and has sold more than 3 million copies.
Brian Froud has influenced a whole new generation of magical painters, book illustrators and filmmakers. Froud's landmark work with Jim Henson as conceptual designer on feature films The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1987), set new standards for design, puppeteering and animatronics in film and are, today, considered landmarks in the evolution of modern day special effects. Both films have achieved an international cult following.
The Animazing Gallery, NY exhibition entitled, BRIAN FROUD: VISIONS FOR FILM & FAERIE, will be comprised of original paintings of creatures from Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, concept drawings from Jim Henson's Labyrinth and original material from the published Faerie books: How to See Faeries, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book and Good Faeries/Bad Faeries.
BRIAN FROUD: VISIONS FOR FILM & FAERIE will be in collaboration with a site-specific installation by Wendy Froud and their son, Toby Froud; both renowned doll and puppet-makers. Toby was the baby "Toby" in Labyrinth and is presently a puppet fabricator and sculptor at Laika Entertainment, the celebrated studio specializing in stop motion/animation film and television.
Wendy is the fabricator of "Yoda" from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. She sculpted and fabricated "Kira" & "Jen" from The Dark Crystal as well as some of the Pod People, and sculpted and fabricated some of the goblins in Labyrinth. For this inaugural exhibition, Wendy Froud has recreated the Gelfling, Kira from The Dark Crystal. Kira stands 33" tall, and was sculpted using original hair and beading from original The Dark Crystal production.
Aughra
From The Dark Crystal (Archaia Comic Book Cover Image, published 2011-2012)
By Brian Froud
Copyright © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
21" x 28"
Acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, ink
Skesksi
From The Dark Crystal (Archaia Comic Book Cover Image, published 2011-2012)
By Brian Froud
Copyright © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
21" x 28"
Acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, ink
Urskek
From The Dark Crystal (Archaia Comic Book Cover Image, published 2011-2012)
By Brian Froud
Copyright © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
21" x 28"
Acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, ink
Doorway Worm
Labyrinth Concept Design (from our LOST LABYRINTH collection by Brian Froud)
By Brian Froud
Copyright © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
7&3/4" x 11&1/2"
1983
watercolor, pencil, ink
Roem Baaba
by Toby Froud
Labyrinth
Labyrinth characters © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
2011
Polymer clay, mixed media
16"h
Labyrinth Ballroom Figures
by Wendy Froud
Labyrinth characters © The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
2010
Polymer clay, mixed media
2010
16"h