Abstract
This article presents a theoretical exploration and reading of the notion of the grotesque in Western history of art to serve as background to the reading of the original creatures in the “Tracking creative creatures” project.1 These creatures were drawn by Marley, based on imaginary creatures narrated by his five year-old son, Joshua. The focus in this article is on the occurrence of the grotesque in paintings and drawings. Three techniques associated with the grotesque are identified: the presence of imagined fusion figures or composite creatures, the violation and exaggeration of standing categories or concepts, and the juxtaposition of the ridiculous and the horrible. The use of these techniques is illustrated in selected artworks and Marley’s creatures are then read from the angle of these strategies.
Highlights
In the context of artworks the word grotesque is generally used as a vague term to describe inter alia strange, ugly, fantastic, ridiculous yet frightening, demonic, absurd, distorted or unfamiliar shapes and forms
Motifs that are often present in the grotesque vary from monsters and composite creatures to mythological and prehistoric animals, as indicated by Carroll (2003:295): If one thing is agreed upon by historians of the grotesque, it is that the concept appears unstable, referring to a wide gamut of material ranging from mythological figures ..., to perhaps pagan residues like gargoyles, to the imagery of Bosch, Brueghel, Dürer, Goya, Doré, and innumerable caricaturists, to writers such as Rabelais, Swift, Hoffman, Poe and Kafka, to the surrealists, and ... to countless producers of contemporary mass art
This article presents a theoretical exploration of the notion of the grotesque in the Western history of art to serve as background to the study and reading of the original creatures in the Tracking creative creatures project. These creatures – drawn by South African artist Ian Marley – were based on imaginary creatures narrated to him by his five year old son, Joshua, who said to his father, “Daddy, let me tell you a creature”
Summary
The following techniques have been identified as being commonly present in grotesque paintings and drawings: the presence of fusion figures or composite creatures, the violation and exaggeration of standing categories or concepts, and the juxtaposition of the ridiculous and the horrible (cf. Thomson, 1972). In what follows I will point out how these techniques feature in selected works in Western art and in Marley’s creatures. Since it is impossible to analyse all Western artworks dealing with the grotesque in this article, I have selected a number of works that in my opinion best illustrate the techniques used by the artists. Within the framework of the three techniques I will discuss the artworks in chronological order, starting with the oldest. This will sometimes result in discussing works originating in different eras in close proximity to each other. Hybrid creatures were part of the grotesque since its inception. Hybrid creatures of this type can be found “transculturally and transhistorically” (Carroll, 2003:294) ever since
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