A new exhibition, “Chris Foss: A SciFi Journey“, featuring new and classic work by the award-winning artist, opened recently at the Art for Guernsey Gallery in St. Peter Port – and has already attracted plenty of visitors from across the globe in its first weeks.
The exhibition, which runs until September, charts the much-admired artist’s career across several decades. Down the years, he’s illustrated numerous book covers by sci-fi heavyweights such as Isaac Asimov and E.E Doc Smith, and has provided design and concept work on several major films, including Dune, Alien, A.I., Superman, Flash Gordon and Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Gallery’s web shop is also selling original art by Chris and a number of limited edition prints of his’ work, including his classic book covers such as Isaac Asimov’s The Stars Like Dust for Panther in the 1970s, concept art for Dune, and much more.
The exhibition, which was opened by General Richard Cripwell CB, CBE, features new works by Chris, plus a selection of career-defining and Guernsey-focused artworks and prints, many with bespoke illustrative additions, alongside sketches and supporting media.
The gallery will be dedicated to this exhibition for the duration of the summer through to 7th September, and features a number of props and decor in support of the exhibited works, with an artist’s narrative film created to explore his career, works and inspiration, especially that of his island home.
Talking to local newspaper The Bailwick Express ahead of the exhibition’s opening, Chris Foss, who was born and is based in the island, said “Guernsey has always been a big influence on my art.
“I started working in Guernsey at the age of 17 and it is with great pleasure that I am able to collate this collection, which effectively covers all the significant years of my commercial life. And it is so apt that I have the opportunity to bring it back to my island through this marvellous gallery.”
“We are very excited and honoured to be able to work with Chris in collating an exhibition of his career’s works, from the 1970s right up to the present day,” said Jock Pettitt, Art for Guernsey Director, “and I expect the exhibition will create strong interest for all in the community.
“We are planning to show the films that Chris’s work has inspired in the gallery on a weekly basis throughout the summer. It’s going to be quite the sci-fi summer, including the children’s Holiday Art Club workshops responding to his legacy and techniques. I can’t wait to see it unfold.”
• “Chris Foss: A SciFi Journey” runs until 7th September 2024 and is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00am to 5.00pm at Art for Guernsey Gallery, Mansell Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey | Web: artforguernsey.com
• Chris Foss original art and prints ar on sale in the Art of Guernsey webshop
• Follow Chris Foss on Facebook
• Writer Tommy Girard has a review of the exhibition here
Further Reading…
Offers background on Chris’s career and offers prints of his art for sale
• Linktree for prints and other official Foss online links
• Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Foss’s groundbreaking and distinctive science fiction art revolutionised paperback covers in the 1970s and 80s. Dramatically raising the bar for realism and invention, his trademark battle-weary spacecraft, dramatic alien landscapes and crumbling brutalist architecture irrevocably changed the aesthetic of science fiction art and cinema.
Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss by Imogene Foss, designed by Rian Hughs, published by Titan Books in 2011, was the first comprehensive retrospective of Chris Foss’s sci-fi career. Featuring work for books by Isaac Asimov, E. E. Doc Smith, Arthur C. Clarke, A. E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick, and film design for Ridley Scott and Stanley Kubrick, this volume brings together many rare and classic images that have never been seen or reprinted before.
• “Chris Foss: A SciFi Journey” runs until 7th September 2024 and is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00am to 5.00pm at Art for Guernsey Gallery, Mansell Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey | Web: artforguernsey.com
• Chris Foss original art and prints ar on sale in the Art of Guernsey webshop
With thanks to downthetubes reader Mirko Draca for the news tip
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Film, Other Worlds
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