Josh Kirby Art at Walker Art Gallery

4 July 2007 (18:37) News News Archives

The Walker Art Gallery, as part of its exhibition of Josh Kirby’s artwork, has published a series of webpages detailing Kirby’s career and progression as an artist.  Kirby, who did the artwork for the British editions of many Discworld novels before his death in 2001, is iconic for his work as a science fiction and fantasy artist.  Though many Discworld fans disagree with his portrayals of Discworld and its characters, it was at Terry Pratchett’s own request that Josh Kirby consistently painted Discworld covers for 26 novels over a period of fifteen years.  To quote the article:

Kirby’s highly original, inventive paintings for Terry Pratchett’s novels are synonymous with the author’s work, capturing the frenetic pace of life in the Discworld. Pratchett has said: “I only invented the Discworld. Josh created it.” Reflecting on his enjoyment illustrating them, Kirby described the books as ‘Bruegel in literary form.’

Working so consistently on the Discworld covers helped promote Kirby’s own career, as the article writes:

The association between Kirby’s cover art and a rollicking good read, exemplified by the Discworld books, led to a growing number of commissions from publishers seeking his unique visual ‘brand’ for their own authors. Kirby, in turn, responded to the humour in much of this fantasy literature, since it enabled him to expand his already playful and distinctive approach.

The exhibition (titled Out of this world: the art of Josh Kirby) will run through September 30, 2007 at the Walker Art Gallery, and is free and open to the public.  A complete list of special tours and events related can be found here.