As we all know, I, Brian Blake Paris, am a big geek. One may say uber geek…I mean hell, who had a Superman/Batman comic logo tattooed on his left shoulder? Or wears mostly Superhero/Transformers shirts all the time? Also, had met by the age of 16 (in TENNESSEE no less) Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, and Colin Baker of Doctor Who fame! So why would it surprise most people (or maybe not in my case) that I would have had a painting commissioned of Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth Dimension…Let moi explain.
Several years ago, I spent a couple of weeks in Bangkok, Thailand after completing another round the world trip for work. During those two weeks, I was very fortunate to meet a gentleman by the name of Neung, who was a very accomplished painter/artist who owned an art gallery (www.artatplay.com) in the heart of the gay district in Bangkok. I was really impressed with the quality of the art in the gallery and particularly the work of an artist named Jirapat Tasanasomboon otherwise known as Top.
Top has several interesting piece’s that focused on Superheroes from the WEST battling Gods/Giants/Mythological Creatures from the EAST (That’s Asia folks for those of you from Alabama). In these paintings you may find Spider-Man and Batman in the middle of a fight with some Asian-Style Demons or Wolverine, Captain America, and the Marvel crew about to face of with some characters from Thai Mythology. While looking at his work, I asked Neung what Top was trying to accomplish here with these particular paintings. Neung told me that Top was showing how western culture/mythology was rapidly replacing elements of Asian Mythos. That our Superhero/Movie Heroes where the new Gods/Giants/Dragons of old in Asia.
What a second…I know what your thinking. Western Mythology? When we hear the word mythology in the west, we immediately think of Greek/Roman/Norse myths, especially Thor (hmmm yum). But for America, or the “Modern America”, most Anthropologist/Sociologist recognizes, that our mythology comes from movies and comics. The best example of this came from a documentary in the mid-80’s on PBS in the states, which I believe was called Modern Mythology. One of the strong points of the show was examining Darth Vader. Yes, Darth Vader. One more time: DARTH VADER. Why you ask? Because according to the Pys-Boys out there in the universities, centuries from now, Darth Vader will still equal “Evil that was redeemed”. Hmmmm, wait a minute how many Greek/Roman/Norse/Asian/Myths relate to that? See how a character like Superman and Captain America may follow suit?
Now back to Thailand to our artist Top. Here is an artist who sees the influence of western culture pouring into his country, replacing things via mass marketing, movies, television, etc. How else to represent it but by showing the battle between East vs. West mythology in his art. So I decided to commission a piece of Top’s art featuring Doctor Strange. Sad to say he had no clue who the good Doctor was, but after sitting down with him on the Internet, he quickly learned all about him.
The end result it was it is what is pictured above. So there you have it for those who have asked. So until next time, may the Hoary Host of Hoggoth be with you.
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