The Artistic Concept
The Artistic Concept of Evildan
by Alain Pain
Upon reviewing the works of Evildan, one cannot but notice the lack of colour. But the prominent colour, or rather shades of colour used therein, range from a deep royal bleu to soft purple, perhaps twisted colour information lost in file transformation, and remind the academics among us of the fountain pen, successor to the quill.
This tool of generations of scholars, mightier than the sword, stands as an icon for their work ethic. Sworn to scientific precision, their minds are focused on thoroughness and intelligibility. Poems find their way from the clouds of inspiration down onto the paper through a stream of blue ink.
But can we find these attributes in the works of Evildan? Are thoroughness, poetic brilliance or even intelligibility in there, somewhere? Somewhere, maybe. But the works definitely lack any sign of at least an attempt at an artistic finish. Jagged lines everywhere, bodies out of proportion, the lettering sub-standard at best and the intertextual references desperately want to be noticed, but fail to lead the viewer's mind anywhere near their referents. It gets better through the years, another sign of these works being done by an enthusiastic dilettante. But not good enough to be truly considered pieces of art. We have seen better.
There is, however, an aspect that shifts the focus away from the idea of a sophisticated level. All drawings show only slightly varying degrees of carelessness towards the mentioned artistic virtues. They all seem to be stuck, larvae-like, in a stadium of early sketches, as if this oeuvre is nothing but a big sketchbook. And yet it is presented to the audience as a portfolio, on this sleek webpage.
It is this a case of concept over craft. It seems as if the situations, allusions, characters or moods that find their expression in the works of Evildan were only looking for that; an expression outside the artist's imagination. Rather different from true artists, Evildan is content with having brought his ideas into perceivable existence once, and shows no interest to work on his sketches any further. The act of bringing them into this existence is the more important part of Evildan's artistic process. To do a drawing based on one of his sketches, with skillful finish in mind, has no artistic value to him. This concept is not uncommon, but bears the danger of mistaking an elaborated concept with incompetence, again making his dilettantism obvious.
The works of Evildan are destined to remain an underground phenomenon, most likely only one of the uncountable Web 2.0 pages full of past-time artistic essays without any impact on whatsoever.
It may be of interest to certain branches of sociologists, since it delivers quite a deep view into the artist's mind. But without any more personal data on the artist, which this website so compulsively denies, no valid information ca be deduced.
(Alain Pain is a professional writer / art critic for Skeptic Girl Magazine)