Well, looks like Mondo has off and done it again. The collectible art division of our beloved Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has a new series of posters dedicated to the work of Paul Thomas Anderson, and they’re knockouts. Mondo artist Aaron Horkey curated the series; after the jump, you can see their posters for Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and Hard Eight (aka Sidney), along with Horkey’s thoughts on the pieces and the artists responsible.
There Will Be Blood Artist: Aaron Horkey
“A few years ago, when a potential PTA director’s series was first mentioned, I immediately had my hand up for this one. Everything about TWBB is precisely my cup of tea — the time period, the sweeping desolation of the landscape, the soundtrack, Daniel Day-Lewis, etc. I didn’t immediately come to the idea of an over-sized stock certificate, but the more thought that went into it the more perfect it seemed as a visual embodiment of the film. I’ve also wanted to go all-in on something resembling a 19th-century engraved note for quite some time, so this seemed like as good an excuse as any. All told I spent over 100 hours on the illustration — it’s still only about half as involved as I think it should be, but after 6 weeks I felt like it needed to be put to bed. The aging of the paper is something I’m pretty proud of here — there are 3 layers of very subtle tone built up from the paper color to approximate a century-old piece of acidic, weathered stock.”
Hard Eight Artist: Rich Kelly
“I met Rich a few years ago when he was living in Chicago — he had only just started out on his phenomenal run of posters, but he was already light years ahead of the pack. Looking through his sketchbook was a fucking revelation — I can honestly say that book was up there with Crumb, Ware and Jean in terms of sheer brilliance and natural ability. When this curatorial project was taking shape I knew I wanted non-Mondo regulars to round it out, but Kelly was the obvious exception to the rule — his beautifully nuanced illustrative style was just the thing for capturing the gritty noir of Anderson’s first film and I was over the moon when he agreed to take part. Even in the rough initial stages I could tell I made the right choice — another absolute stunner of a composition to add to his growing portfolio of classic pieces, the kid wins again…”
Boogie Nights Artist: Rockin’ Jelly Bean
“This poster was destined to be handled by RJB — anyone even marginally familiar with his style and subject matter would have to agree that he’s been seemingly working up to this one for years. When I initially reached out (thanks to Pushead for the introduction) his auto-translated response boiled down to, ‘Rollergirl is my inspiration!’ After that point all bets were off and the finished product is precisely what an RJB Boogie Nights poster should be — glistening, dynamic and damn near dripping off the paper.”
Magnolia Artist: Joao Ruas
“I’d been watching Joao’s incredible progression from the moment he was tapped to follow cover artist James Jean on DC’s Fables series — I don’t know if anyone expected shoes that massive to be filled so effortlessly, but here he was, voracious in his experimentation and so consistent in his victories as to thoroughly belie his years. Ruas has grown over the years into an absolute favorite of mine, and I was thrilled that he was willing to take part in this series. His Magnolia poster (which is, I believe, his first screen print) is in my eyes a perfectly balanced illustration — hauntingly stark yet deceptively detailed and a palette over which to salivate. That he was able to distill such a dense narrative into these simple forms is truly something to wonder over — I feel absolutely Cro-Magnon in its presence, more so than usual. And that title lettering — total perfection.”
Punch Drunk Love Artist: Jordan Crane
“Just hearing the title of this movie made me think of Jordan — taken out of context it fits right in with his staggering output of comics, anthologies and children’s books. I’ve stood awestruck in front of a wall plastered with his amazing screen prints, have been reading his work since his groundbreaking Non anthology and, like a good portion of the population, still don’t understand how the Hell he made the Maps and Legends dust jacket, so it was not a huge leap to think this could be a winner. Knowing he’s more than capable with a squeegee as well as with a forlorn narrative, it was a relief to hear he was on board and the final poster is a fantastic addition to the series.”
There Will Be Blood (Variant) Artist: Aaron Horkey
Sydney (Hard Eight variant) Artist: Rich Kelly
The Mondo-PTA prints are available for sale online this week (limited quantities, as always); on-sale times and information are available via the @MondoNews Twitter.