Grashow's City Monster

        I’m off to another fantasy/sci-fi art show this afternoon, (Boskone 54) so this morning I’ll give you a very cool stand-alone fantasy block print.  This wood block print by James Grashow (USA, 1942-) really tickles me.  Maybe it’s got a serious message about cities devouring the countryside, but despite the monster’s obvious menace, I think it’s more fun than scary.  I love how the pointy rooflines make teeth and claws, the bridge of the nose (get it?), the clocktower eyes…  The carving is quite impressive, too, with all those tiny windows and details.  I can see a sci-fi movie with enormous special effects budget having a blast with this.  In such a movie there would be people running around screaming and shooting the monster, of course, but here I don’t see any people at all.  The only animals are the cows behind the barn, and they don’t seem troubled a bit by this monster, which must be clanking, and grinding, and making an enormous amount of horrible noise.  This is one of those pieces of art I wish I’d thought of!  I hope you get a kick out of it, too.

[Picture: Woodcut by James Grashow, c 2011 (Image from Stamford Advocate).]