An introductory note makes clear that while Blake is drawn to pet themes and personally salient motifs, readers should expect to find neither thesis nor throughline connecting the vignettes ahead. Instead, the eight sections that follow are entirely unrelated to one another, each filled with images that invite onlookers to both occupy the world as it\u2019s been reimagined and construct its context. In \u201cTrip Hazards,\u201d clumsy bumblers topple mid-fall across four full-page spreads, while \u201cTen Things You Really Cannot Manage Without\u201d features slice-of-life essentials like a \u201cbeach hut\u201d and a \u201cuseful box.\u201d \u201cDeliveries From Elsewhere\u201d features suitably off-the-wall scenarios (characters ride grotesque monsters or pilot flying machines), whereas those in \u201cFeet in the Water\u201d prove perfectly ordinary. An art exhibition of sorts, this work is an introspective companion to the myriad others Blake has built his storied career on; the contents of this volume range widely, sometimes silly, often weird. Done in scribbly pen and ink over muted watercolor, his signature illustrations suit the sinister undercurrent that thrums drolly beneath his unique brand of oddball whimsy. As ever, this artist promises creative and madcap catastrophe, but readers can rest assured\u2014the turn of each page offers unexpected (if occasionally macabre) delights, and the disagreeable stuff occurs squarely offstage.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An introductory note makes clear that while Blake is drawn to pet themes and personally salient motifs, readers should expect to find neither thesis nor throughline connecting the vignettes ahead. Instead, the eight sections that follow are entirely unrelated to one another, each filled with images that invite onlookers to both occupy the world as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}