I love cinema and I love animation. I was chilling and watching my latest Netfixs DVD, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury when I noticed the animation reminded me of a story in the Animatrix, animation inspired by the Matrix movie . The artist is the same animator that drew Aeon Flux and Reign: The Conqueror (which happens to be my next delivery). I never looked up the artist’s name or history, but I really like it. His is one of the best animation styles I have ever seen.
The animator is Peter Chung. You can read more about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Chung. What I learned from this article is fascinating. If you know AEon Flux animation, the art is set apart by, as described by the aut
hor of the Wikipedia article, “….lean angular characters inspired by the art of Egon Schiele.” You should really read Schiele's bio on Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele. He lived a pretty crazy life, known for his erotic art and questionable lifestyle with teenage girls, until he calmed down and began to settle into the life of a respected artist. I have never seen his art before, but I instantly recognized the influence on Chung when I saw some examples. Schiele’s life story, dying at 28 in the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that killed 50 million people worldwide and 20 million in Europe, is compelling.
I was taken away by his story which included the fact that he was a protégé of sorts of Gustav Klimt, also known for his erotic subject matter. His work is perhaps the most important pieces to originate from Vienna. You may not recognize the name. I must say I did not, but when I read his bio, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt, and saw his work, there is one piece, The Kiss 1907–1908, and a few others that I instantly recognized. It made me smile, because it is fun seeing how art done in 1907 can 100 years later express itself in today’s pop culture. One never knows how much your life can influence others.
Interestingly, Klimt also died in 1918 at 56. Cause of the death according to the Wiki article is a stroke and pneumonia.
Took me a lot of time to read all the comments, but I really liked the article. It is very helpful to me. It’s always cool when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! I’m sure you had good time writing this article.