Re. Dave McKean at Salon for the City June 26th
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Were you a fan of Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' series as I was as a youngster? Somehow it made the undeniable fairytale appeal of fantasy works relevant in a way that The Lord of the Rings, however wonderful, just couldn't to urban youth.
Or was it just the long The Matrix-style coats and cool haircuts?
The Sandman is a "story about stories and how Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, is captured and subsequently learns that sometimes change is inevitable". It was right up my street. Plus, crucially, girls liked it too. The dust covers from the many The Sandman editions were made by Gaiman's friend and long-term collaborator, the British illustrator Dave McKean (and were so good they were eventually released in their own volume). I loved them.
Dave is a horribly talented illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, collage, painting, found objects, photography, digital art and sculpture. His collaborations with Gaiman on The Sandman and Coraline plus countless CD and book covers have inspired many other artists and writers. He is also a very nice guy.
And, he is coming to speak at our Salon for the City next week to talk / sing / play about London in his work. Hurrah!
I recently saw him performing live with Neil Gaiman at the British Library at the opening of the 'British Comics Unmasked' show curated by our out other guest at the Salon the fantastical Paul Gravett. It was super. Neil has obviously done a deal with some demon - he is annoyingly good looking, seemingly eternally youthful, also horribly talented, massively successful - and very nice too to boot..
Here he is reading the poem 'The Saucers have Landed' live in my bootleg recording.
Dave McKean at Salon for the City June 26th
