EDGAR ALLAN POE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBIT - DAVE KOPKA

ON VIEW THROUGH JULY 29, 2017

an exhibition showcasing the literary work of Edgar Allan Poe

 interpreted by contemporary illustrators 

Dave Kopka, Nancy Doniger, Donna Miskend, Carol (Klio) Burrell
special guests: 
Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the forthcoming An Annotated Edgar Allan Poe, James Armstrong, playwright, Charlie Vazquez, author and director Bronx Writing Center

A CONVERSATION WITH ARTIST DAVE KOPKA

Artwork: © Dave Kopka 2016/17The Pit and the Pendulum,  The Premature Burial

Hailing from Chicago, Dave studied illustration at the Pratt Institute and currently lives and draws in Brooklyn. His work revolves around an inspiration from storytelling involving the struggle to overcome, and the humor and misfortune behind internal conflict. Dave engages in books, story boarding, comics, and pre-production work, but is fascinated with exploring a wide spectrum of illustration and being a creative force in visual narrative.

Site: davekopka.com 

The Cask of Amontillado, © 2016/17

DM: Why did you choose The Cask of Amontillado to illustrate?

DK: What’s so enthralling in Poe’s stories - much more than the acts of horror that entail - are the characters carrying them out. This is no less evident in The Cask of Amontillado. Other than a few defining traits, Montressor is a sort of enigma. We don’t know what crime Fortunado has committed to evoke his own immolation. Are we so ready to accept that Fortunado actually had done something unforgivable? Is Montressor of sound mind to begin with? From the writing, it may seem almost simple enough to believe in Montressor’s resolve, to walk in the protagonist’s footsteps, as if to say there is an element of the sociopathic in all of us. That is fascinating, and a true horror behind this tale.

DM: Did you discover something new or interesting while doing your research for this exhibit?

DK: There was a lot of new territory to explore while looking through Poe's written works. Something that struck me while reading was that many of the stories present themselves for so much interpretation; the poems even more so. For instance, throughout the cast of his characters, we don't necessarily always have a solid grasp on who they are/what they look like specifically. 

The Pit and the Pendulum, © 2016/17

Much of their image is made up of what we project onto them (another reason why I think Poe's writing was so good, it tricks the reader into doing a lot of the work in creating a visual image). This is fantastic, because it allows me as an artist to conjure up something that might look different than someone else's vision of the same story, and opens up a dialogue - visually or otherwise - to learn from folks with different perspectives. There's a lot of potential space to explore creative freedom too. Whether or not it was intended, Poe really lets illustrators take the writing and make it their own. 

THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES - TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DAVE'S PROCESS, CLICK HERE
EDGAR ALLAN POE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBIT WORK ON EXHIBIT - Each Giclée is considered as an original piece of art, using high quality archival inks and paper, and will not be reproduced identically in size, manner, method, and quality ever again, with exception for the artist’s promotional and exhibition material. Said promo material will not be for sale. Smaller print runs reproduced in a more economic fashion will be available in the future, but will not have the same appearance and dimensions as the initial Gallery Editions. Frames are included in the purchase for all Gallery Editions. For inquires, please contact the artist at illustration@davekopka.com.