Spectrum: Fantastic Reality
Kansas City Family Publishes Fantasy Art Annual
She stares blankly out from the book cover with coffee-cup rings around her eyes, her face as white as porcelain and hanging angelic above an Aztec-designed palace. Feathers roll from her temples into an elaborate headdress where two doves are perched. Beneath her is an assemblage of artifacts, what looks to be a golden chalice, some hieroglyphics, and Egyptians, who have come to worship this goddess. And, at the base of the illustration, there is a skull – jawbone missing – anchoring the artwork in an imaginary world that is as wicked as it is beautiful and daring anyone who holds the majestic volume to see what lies behind its cover.
Inside Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art is the most beautiful fantasy artwork of the year, created by prominent artists in the genre and occasional newcomers. On the pages are spectacularly vivid illustrations and, for that matter, imaginations, as if the artists had taken visuals from their deepest dreams, translated them to paper to create new worlds filled with odd creatures, clouds turned into open alligator mouths and craggy tree limbs, and cobble stone sidewalks haunted by ominous Victorian shadows.
But the book is also a competition of sorts. Each piece is judged by the brightest creative minds in the fantasy art world, and winning entrants are chosen for the collection.
Since its first publication in 1994, the Spectrum annuals have established a tradition as “the” showcase for the most memorable fantastic-themed fine art, sculpture, and illustration created in the previous twelve months. The 2007 edition featured more than 400 works from about 300 talented artists. Art directors and publishers now use the guide as a resource to find today’s top creatives.
But as fantastical as the book might be, its publishers––almost like super heroes with hidden identities––lead quiet, unassuming lives in suburban Kansas City. Arnie and Cathy Fenner are creatives themselves. He is the senior art director of the calendar division of Andrews McMeel Publishing and Cathy is a lettering designer for Hallmark.
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