Eric Hanson, the Coffee House Press author/illustrator-in-residence at the MIA’s Art Research and Reference Library, is full of surprises. Just when I think I have him figured out, he gives us something delightfully unexpected—like this. And I can’t get enough. If you haven’t planned to check out his final residency presentation on June 19th as a part of Third Thursday: Get Local, well, you should. Here’s his latest dispatch from the stacks. Follow along here on MIA Stories or over at CHP In the Stacks.
In the Stacks with Eric Hanson: Bagatelle Painting
I’d been wanting to work some of what I call “bagatelle” painting into the mixture. It’s in the tradition of the Raphael grotesque decoration, inspired originally, I believe, by some wall decoration unearthed in a classical villa near the Forum during Raphael’s era. I decorated the same Renaissance profile I paired with the mugshot from Waco. I do these bagatelles freehand, without any preliminary pencil work, so it doesn’t have any careful imagery, other than the outline in this case.
About Eric: His illustrations and writing have appeared in Vanity Fair, Harper’s, New York Times, Rolling Stone, McSweeney’s and The Atlantic. A Book of Ages, published in 2008, is his wittily curated collection of moments in the lives of the famous. He also creates children’s books. He will discuss his MIA residency and present new work inspired by it on Thursday, June 19th at 7pm in the MIA’s Friends Community Room, during Third Thursday: Get Local. You’re invited. Until then, you have his words and drawings.