Mark Todd: Deconstructionist Comics

I’ve seen it time and time again — everyone since the 60s has been ripping off Roy Lichtenstein ripping off comic book cover sin the name of fine art. But alas Mark Todd has come up with a brilliant twist that breaks the cliché: Instead of painting yet another comic book cover in a pop art style Todd uses a style that’s a mix of expressionism and folk art. Instead of cropping in on the artwork like Lichtenstein, Todd embraces the constructs of the comic book by including hand drawn logos, issue numbers and even comics code stamp. I also admire the fact that the work doesn’t take itself so seriously and has a childlike yet charming sense of humor.

Shown above is Coil (mixed media on panel 24″x36″) and below is Oof (mixed media on panel 9″x12″) .