GRIS GRIMLY

About the Artist:

Gris Grimly's extraordinary vision has been haunting the imagination of fine art and illustration collectors since he fist arrived on the art scene less than a decade ago. Primarily known for his dark and delicious drawings for young readers, Mr. Grimly's distinctive style is a perfectly blended potion of the monstrously macabre and the wickedly whimsical.

Born in the Midwest, Mr. Grimly, like so many creative children, was drawn to the exciting and scary world of monsters and goblins. Young Gris secretly admired the works of artists as diverse as Ralph Steadman, Edward Gorey and Egon Schiele. Carefully observing and absorbing the darker sides of creative geniuses like Dr. Seuss and Jim Henson - the later for whom he had hoped to work one day and thus explaining why he cut up his mother's sheets to make his own puppets -Grimly understood instinctively the innocent attraction that the child in all of us has for the sinister land of ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night.

After graduating from art college, Mr. Grimly brought his remarkable talent to Los Angeles where he started working for Universal Studios. During these lean years he contributed character designs for themed entertainment while in his spare time producing a series of original (and now extremely rare and highly valued) miniature books. The sold-out series of slip-cased works, complete with sideshow banner covers showcasing the lives of Helium Head Harold and Norbert the Seal Boy among others, were produced in limited quantities of no more than nine each. Every small panel of each individual book was a hand-painted original.

These diminutive masterpieces brought him to the attention of discerning collectors and high-profile publishers, both of whom actively sought him out. Almost immediately, editors at Harper Collins and Hyperion Press ( a division of the Walt Disney Company) hired him to paint the covers for best selling works and to illustrate original children's books like Monster Museum and Creature Carnival. His intricate lines and startling layouts combined with an exceptional use of carefully controlled water color and ink washes were instantly hailed by his peers, themselves leaders in the field of fantasy and horror illustration and fine art; many of whom had inspired Mr. Grimly in his youth. Evidence of his place in this unique segment of the art world was marked early on when his work was selected to appear in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art, the leading arts journal showcasing the best and brightest fantasy and science fiction artists around the world. Mr. Grimly was in good company at a very young age, sharing the pages with the likes of James Gurney (Dinotopia), Peter de'Seve (noted for his covers for The New Yorker) and Caldecott winners Leo and Diane Dillon.

Gris Grimly has now returned to his roots illustrating his own writing in such books as Gris Grimly's Wicked Nursery Rhymes. Best selling horror author and film director Clive Barker referred to Grimly's work as "stylish, funny and gloriously ghoulish."

Van Eaton Galleries is pleased to be the exclusive representative of Mr. Grimly's original drawings, water colors and paintings as well as commissioned works. His dark humor and thoroughly original vision opens up a vibrant world of childhood nightmares with both a chill and a subtle wink, making him the 21st century equivalent of a young Charles Addams and quickly on his way to being just as highly prized by discerning and appreciative collectors across the globe.

Background and Images courtesy of:

http://www.vegalleries.com/grisart3.html#art
http://www.madcreator.com/influences_frameset.html