The word “art” can mean many things but most think of it as paintings and drawings. Visual media. In that broad topic, one of our favorite sub-categories is pop culture art, visual art based on movies and TV shows. And below we’ve picked some great ones.
What you see here are some of our favorite pop culture art released in 2015. But don’t forget, this is just a tiny sliver of the amazing work that’s out there.
“Chum Chart” - Anthony Petrie, Gallery 1988 - Petrie’s show chARTs made maps of famous movies but this visual stunner, of Jaws obviously, took the cake. You need to look twice to get it.
“Ferris Bueller Float Scene” - 100% Soft, Gallery 1988 - This just looks like a simple, cute, rendition of that amazing scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, right? Wrong. Every character is from another John Hughes movie.
“The Force Awakens” - Eric Tan, Gallery 1988 - Gallery 1988 did an amazing show of official Star Wars art this year but this piece was probably the stand out.
“The Little God Of Mischief” by Joey Spiotto, Gallery 1988 - Spiotto’s Storytime series, blending Golden Books with pop culture, is so fun it’s hard to pick just one. So why not Loki?
“Star Wars” - Gabz, Bottleneck Gallery - You’ve seen Star Wars posters, you’ve seen Star Wars poster sets, but one poster for all three movies is a true challenge and Gabz nailed it.
“The Empire Strikes Back” - Juan Esteban Rodriguez, Bottleneck Gallery - There are so many visual goodies in Empire, but Rodriguez took one and made it fully his own in this striking image.
“The Rocketeer” - Martin Ansin, Mondo - Disney’s The Rocketeer is a beautiful period adventure film, which Ansin perfectly captured in this unique work, blending all kinds of different styles.
“The Goonies” - Tyler Stout, Mondo - Stout took everything you like about The Goonies and put it all in a single image, one that you never ever get tired of looking at.
“Jurassic Park” - Rich Kelly, Mondo - Kelly picked a great, but incredibly under-utilized scene from Jurassic Park for this richly detailed, and wonderfully composed image.
“Mad Max Fury Road” - Killian Eng, Mondo - Somehow, as saturated and bright as George Miller’s amazing film is, Eng was able to visually duplicate that on a piece of paper, plus add in lots of action.
“Back to the Future” - Tom Whalen, Mondo - How do you want to display this one? Back on top, front on top? Doesn’t matter. Whalen nails the duality of Back to the Future in a super fun way.
“Eyes Without A Face” - Jason Edmiston, Mondo - Though you see Sully and E.T. above, they are just two of dozens of original paintings made by Edmiston this year perfectly capturing the eyes of various pop culture characters. It’s a insanely cool and beautiful series.
“Proto Fett” - Craig Drake, Hero Complex Gallery - Drake’s style and composition get perfectly matched with this bad-ass look at one of the Star Wars coolest characters.
“BTTF2” - Craig Drake, Hero Complex Gallery - Another Drake stunner, capturing the movement and detail of Doc Brown’s Delorean from Back to the Future Part 2.
“Glory Days” - Ape Meets Girl/Kevin Wilson, Hero Complex Gallery - Mr. Incredible, and the viewer, look back at a legendary superhero history in this poster for the Pixar Oscar-winner.
“You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me” - Mark Englert, Cyclops Print Works - The fun and magic of Aladdin comes to life in this statuesque take on the Disney film.
“Mad Max Fury Road” - Scott C., self released - Scott C. continues his fun Great Showdowns series with this massive, beyond impressively detailed showdown from our pick for best film of the year.
“Attack the Block” - Matt Taylor, Vice Press - Before he was Finn, John Boyega was Moses, who stands tall in this simply amazing poster for the new cult sci-fi film.
“Halloween” - Jason Edmiston, Mondo - Michael Myers looks as scary as ever in this unique take on the John Carpenter horror classic.
“Mulholland Drive” - Kevin Tong, Mondo - David Lynch’s twisted tale of two women has never looked better than this impressive visual representation of the movie.
“Crimson Peak” - Daniel Danger, Mondo - Despite the star-studded cast, the real star of Guillermo del Toro’s gothic romance was the house in which it was film, captured with scary accuracy and tone in this piece.
“Frankenstein” - Nicolas Delort, Dark Hall Mansion - Delort made perfect posters out of all the Universal Monsters movies in this series but we forced ourselves to pick out just one. It wasn’t easy.
Contact the author at germain@io9.com.