The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora
“Jim Flora’s artwork is ultraviolet radiation in tempera and ink—it crackles with such energy, it practically sizzles ozone…This anthology celebrates a visionary whose work is steeped in vari-hued paradox…Yet, despite the raucous energy projected in these hyperactive mosaics, a typical Flora freak circus often projects harmony and balance—an ordered chaos.” (Mark Frauenfelder - Boing Boing)“Baroque and subversive.” (Joe Bendel - J. B. Spins)“Picasso, Matisse, Steinberg, my friend Charles — they all stole from Jim Flora, who was both ahead of his time and before his time.” (William Wegman)“The first Jim Flora collection was a revelation and a long-overdue tribute to the twisted, bizarre, joyous genius of an artist who was so damn ahead of his time. The second book was equally delightful. And now...a third!!It's too much, my head is exploding!” (Drew Friedman)“For this generation of artists and illustrators, Jim Flora is sort of an unknown creative granddaddy. Flora's designs are magically simple distillations of Cubism, Surrealism and cartoon madness, with playful figures and instruments floating in planes of color.” (The New York Times)“Chusid and Economon once again prove to be wise stewards of the Flora archives.Sweetly Diabolicreveals many largely unknown aspects of his work, but also fruitfully revisits his classic Columbia-era work. Thanks to the quality of the reproductions and design of the book itself, the vitality of Flora's art comes through on each page. An effective introduction to Flora's art and a satisfying crowd-pleaser for his established fans,Diabolicis another richly entertaining treasury of Flora's 'baroque and subversive' art.'” (Joe Bendel - J.B. Spins)