Artists: James Beveridge, Frank Casey, Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk, David Mattingly, James Ng
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 20 at 2pm
Yesterday’s Tomorrow: The Art of Retrofuturism with Lynne Fahnestalk and Frank Casey
Kindly RSVP HERE
Nostalgia for the Future: The Optimism and Whimsy of Retrofuturist Art
The term Retrofuturism refers to how people once envisioned the future. Five local and international artists explore the intersection between technology and humanity in Nostalgia For the Future. They invite viewers to ponder these questions as they tour the gallery:
- To what extent can or will humanity be reflected in the technology it creates? Can technology (robots, artificial intelligence, etc.) achieve a level of humanity — or even a oneness with the natural world — that humans themselves struggle to achieve in modern times?
- To what extent do we pin aspects of our own psyche — our hopes, our fears, our views of life — on the technology we create?
- How much of ourselves do we see in the robots we create? Are robotics and artificial intelligence a next step of human evolution? Can they become the best of us?
It is suggested to delve into these topics with playfulness, awe and wonder.
Drop in Activity!
Come visit Nostalgia For The Future at CityScape Community ArtSpace and participate in an all-ages drop-in activity that asks you to draw your visions for what the future might look like in 50 years.
The drop-in activity is located in the Art Rental Hallway and is open during gallery hours.
Artist Bios
Frank Casey | https: //monkeyhousestudio.net
Frank Casey is an artist and art teacher from Tacoma, Washington. He has instructed high school students in artmaking and the creative design process since 2007. He also works as a professional illustrator, creating book covers for authors and publishers, as well as selling his original works online and at trade shows and conventions. In 2021, Frank was awarded an arts fellowship with the Robert B. McMillin foundation, which allowed him to publish his first art book, An Incompletely Peculiar Collection. He has since worked with the foundation to recognize the talents of other upcoming artists.
“In my art series, The Incompletely Peculiar, I honor collaborative storytelling by providing fragments of unfinished tales. They are illustrations in want of a narrative. I invite the viewer to complete the tale I have started, to use their interpretations and their imaginations to make the story whole, and to do with it what they will. I leave it to the viewer to decide how the story ends – and how it begins.”
Jim Beveridge | www.deviantart.com/jamesfbeveridge | www.artstation.com/jimbeveridge
Born in Windsor, Ontario, I’ve been fascinated with both science and myth since childhood; and combined with an desire to draw that was like the need to breathe, life seemed inevitably, to lead me to illustrate science fiction and fantasy…
In 1991 I started illustrating for “On Spec Magazine.” I began by contributing black & white drawings, and then colour covers. My interest now is in the computer as an art tool, which has led to working in game art and online web design. After several nominations I won the Aurora Award for Artistic Acheivement in 2002.
I have been adding novel covers and, tattoos, layout design, and now apps, to my portfolio currently working with publishers as well as independent authors, and look forward as I continue to create more art, here in 2024 and beyond.
“I started sketching at about 8 years old, inspired mostly by C.W. Jeffries, Hal Foster and, especially, John Tenniel’s art for “Alice in Wonderland.” As an artist who enjoys working from my imagination, I seem to have gravitated towards the speculative genres, or fantasy and science-fiction, and all of their various unique branches from cyberpunk to game art and the macabre. My early influences were greats such as Kelly Freas, Frank Frazetta, Hal Foster and John Berkey. Their mastery of technique and strength of vision continues to foment my urge to learn and grow with each piece…”
Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk | www.facebook.com/rivetofrobots
Lynne is a Canadian artist specializing in metal sculpture, single panel cartooning, and magazine illustration. She is a two-time recipient of the Canadian Prix Aurora Award for Artistic Excellence. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, gallery exhibitions, and art shows and she has also served as Art Director for two national magazines and was co-owner of Northwest Fine Art Press.
Lynne currently creates one-of-a-kind robot sculptures from upcycled metal objects. These sculptures have been described as 3-D cartoons and she likes that comparison. Each Bot is securely constructed using drilling and screws and she uses the metal pieces as she finds them; never polishing, painting, or shaping. The search for usable objects is a large part of the creative process–garage sales and flea markets are her friends. Lynne has been an avid recycler since the early 1970s and her Bots reflect that passion.
“Retro-futurist art depicts how people in the past viewed the future – flying cars, floating cities, time travel, and personal robots. My metal robot sculptures, specifically, come from my love of retro science fiction movies. I’d rather watch an old “B” science fiction movie than almost anything — the movies where robots were, despite their menacing ways, rather comical and endearing. I love creating my Bots and hope they do justice to those “walking tin cans” of the past and bring a smile to the present.”
James Ng | https://jamesngart.com/
James Ng is an illustrator and Concept Artist from Hong Kong. He is mostly known for Imperial Steam & Light, his Chinese Steampunk series, but he also has a wide range of styles that extend into fantasy, sci-fi, comic narratives and advertising.
James’ artwork takes inspiration from world history and modernization, what is gained and what is lost through this process. He seeks to visualize technology through the lens of “what if” and “what could have been.”
James current focus is producing a book based around the Imperial Steam & Light series.
“When we look at science fiction media from the past, we often see a hopeful and colorful present day that our previous generations envisioned. We see images of fantastical cities, where our quality of life is enhanced by creative technology powered often by steam. I often wonder, how those of the past would react if they saw the technology we have today? More importantly, how we use that technology, or how we let that technology use us. Would they be filled with admiration and awe, or horror and disgust? Perhaps both. In my personal works, I like to include parts of my Chinese heritage with technological designs, creating something that resembles both the past and the future. It is important to not lose or forget our roots as we grow and mature.”
David Mattingly | http://www.davidmattingly.com
I was born in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1956 to Phyllis and John W. Mattingly, the last in a line of three brothers, with John C. and James coming before me. Interesting fact: my dad was the inventor of the Waterpik oral hygiene device.
I began my career as a matte artist at Walt Disney Studios under Harrison Ellenshaw. While at Disney, I worked on “The Black Hole,” “Tron,” “Dick Tracy.” I also did some mattes for Stephen King’s “The Stand.” Weta Digital flew me down to New Zealand to work on “I, Robot.” Hey Weta—I’m willing to come back if you desperately need me!
I have produced a whole lot of book covers over the course of my career—I stopped counting at 2000. I’ve worked for almost everyone in the business over the years, including Bantam, DAW, Del Rey, Dell, Marvel, Omni, Playboy, Signet, and Tor. I’ve done the most work and found a home at Baen Books. For the Gen Y cohort, I’m probably most famous for creating 53 covers for K.A. Applegate’s “Animorphs” series, along with the last 5 covers for the “Everworld” series.
I’ve won a few awards over the years. I’m a two-time winner of Magazine and Booksellers “Best Cover of the Year” award, and I won the Association of Science Fiction Artists “Chesley” award for my “Subway Wizard” painting.
“I create work that imagines alternate visions of our world, a world the viewer has never seen before: the uncanny, the fantastic, the alien, and the view from the universe beyond ours. Reproducing the everyday world is not part of my visual vocabulary. I am at heart a science fiction and fantasy artist…It is easy to fall in love with digital tools. Whereas analogue paint can be unforgiving, digital programs let you experiment endlessly. But as I tell my students, technology will not replace the artist. It is the artist’s vision that controls the tools. A meaningless idea, no matter how beautifully rendered, is still meaningless. I strive in my work to show viewers a meaningful vision of something they have never seen before.”