I was intrigued by Antony Cummins’ portrayal of the fairytale character ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (above left). In the story Beauty is pricked by a spinning wheel and falls asleep for 100 years. She is awoken by a handsome prince and they all live happily ever after. Antony’s depiction of the character represents how women are killing themselves in pursuit of beauty. The level of detail and features of traditional fairytale illustration with a modern slant are remarkable.

Myths and historical characters are a recurring theme in Antony’s work. Take a look at ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Spartan’ at www.theartcollectiononline.co.uk/contemporary/acmed/. He also uses his art to convey social messages. For example, ‘Hammer of Adam’ (above right) represents Man’s industry and its death on the world. Antony’s work reminds me a little of Hogarth (not in style but in the way he depicts messages/stories in the small details).

Antony Cummins is a Manchester-based artist. His artwork has been used in magazine publications and a t-shirt company currently hold a number of his designs. To view more examples of Antony’s work, visit www.theartcollectiononline.co.uk/contemporary/acmed/. Antony can also be contacted at antonyjcummins@yahoo.co.uk.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 9:46 am and is filed under Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.