Terrance Lindall
Terrance Lindall is an American artist who was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1944. Lindall attended the University of Minnesota and graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in New York City in 1970, with a double major in Philosophy and English and a double minor in Psychology and Physical Anthropology. He was in the Doctor of Philosophy program in philosophy at New York University from 1970 to 1973. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America 2006. Information about this artist is also on file in the Smithsonian Institution Library Collection. Lindall's art has been on the covers of numerous books and magazines and has been exhibited at many galleries and museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, Hudson River Museum, the Museum of the Surreal and Fantastic and the Society of Illustrators Museum. There is an artists file on Lindall in the Thomas J. Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [1] Lindall is currently president of the Yuko Nii Foundation and a member of the Milton Project at the Townsend Humanities Lab[2], University of California, Berkeley.
Overview
Terrance Lindall produced art for Warren Publishing's Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, for Heavy Metal magazine, for the Epic Comics imprint of Marvel Comics and for Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Magazine. In the book Ghastly Terror: The Horrible Story of the Horror Comics, ", Stephen Sennitt credits Lindall with the attempt to save the line of Warren horror magazines from extinction through his new style of cover art.
Lindall's book Paradise Lost Illustrated (poetry by John Milton) has been compared to other Milton illustrators including William Blake. According to New York University professor Karen Karbiener, many students prefer Lindall's version, which appeared in Heavy Metal magazine and has a popular following among young people. Professor Karbiener, a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, gave a lecture at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in 2004 on "...Milton's Satan and his impact on countercultural artistic movements from William Blake to the Beat poets in essence, the artists "between" Milton and Lindall [3], the radical artistic legacy." Lindall owns Charles Lamb's copy of the first illustrated 1691 edition of Paradise Lost, as well as Lady Pomfret’s copy of the first illustrated edition (circa 1688). Pomfret was a noble 18th century British woman of great learning, and the Lady of the Bedchamber of Queen Caroline.[4].
Apart from being an artist, Terrance Lindall has a background in philosophy and has been very active in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn art community [5][6]. He writes for New York Arts Magazine, Block Magazine, and 11211 Magazine, a Breuk Iversen production, and other publications. His essay "The Epistemological Movement in Late 20th century Art"[7] assesses what he sees as the new artistic trends in the contemporary art world and its context in new thinking about fractal geometry, quantum mechanics, historical will, and epistemological and analytic traditions. He curated Charles Gatewood's "The Body and Beyond" [8] (1997) and "Apocalypse 1999" [9]. "Apocalypse 1999" was the most lavish art production seen in Williamsburg to date, including over 125 artists from around the world and incorporating many provocative musical and theatrical productions. Since then, Lindall has produced the show "Brave Destiny"[10], including nearly 500 artists. For the show he wrote his New International Surrealist Manifesto (NISM), [11]. The opening reception was a one-night "Grand Surrealist Costume Ball" event for which people flew in from countries around the world, including Zimbabwe, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico. The arriving guests stopped traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge, the second time Lindall's shows have done this. Lindall, wrote an article on "The New Surrealists" which appeared in the March 2006 issue of Art and Antiques Magazine (March, 2006), tracing the continually evolving art form from the 1960s through today, citing several of the world's foremost artists.
Terrance Lindall is a builder of institutions such as the Greenwood Museum and the Upperville Meeting House in New York State, and has worked with Yuko Nii[12] in developing the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center[13], which has achieved international recognition. A full-page article appeared in the New York Times[14] about their creation of this institution. Lindall is mentioned in the book Museum Founders alongside such notables as Augustus Pitt Rivers, Hans Sloane, Peggy Guggenheim, Nelson Rockefeller, Elias Ashmole, and many other builders of outstanding institutions [15].
In other aspects of his life, Lindall served as financial manager of Roundabout Theater Company[16], the world's largest not-for-profit theater in New York City, and as assistant treasurer and business manager of the American Numismatic Society[17], one of the United States' oldest museums with the largest and finest collections of coins and medals going back to Greek coinage and Roman currency. He is currently the president of the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, and is an expert on not-for-profit law and finance.
Lindall has been in Kate Spade fashion ads appearing in several other top magazines. In 2004, the Kate Spade ad campaign was featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City[18] in a groundbreaking show "Fashioning Fiction" [19]. A short film on this campaign, Visiting Tennessee, was produced by Andy Spade.
Lindall’s art for Paradise Lost appears on the cover of Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton, released by Random House in 2008. Holt Rinehart & Winston used another Lindall Paradise Lost image in a 2009 high school textbook. Oxford University's major exhibit "Citizen Milton" at the Bodleian Library (to which Milton himself personally donated copies of many of his works), honoring Milton's 400th birthday, used one of Lindall's artworks for Paradise Lost from the Nii Foundation collection. Oxford University has also recognized Lindall's contribution to the continuing Miltonian artistic legacy [20]. Available only to scholars, a signed copy of Terrance Lindall's Paradise Lost Illustrated is in the Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection of the Thomas Cooper rare book library at the University of South Carolina. The collection's special focus on illustrated editions make it perhaps "the most comprehensive collection ever of Milton illustration." [21]
Lindall enjoys working with composers and musicians on his projects, believing that artists and their work are elevated by interaction of disciplines. His art is in the collections of both Stephen Schwartz, the famous lyricist for Broadway and films and winner of three Academy Awards, and Michael Karp [22], whose music is perhaps the most performed on television. Famed Lutheran hymn writer Amanda Husberg even composed a requiem mass for Terrance Lindall in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of and earthly resurrection of John Milton's "glorious" Paradise Lost. Noted Lutheran hymn text writer and poet Richard Leach wrote a new text for the requiem mass. Lindall commented, "It will be the final act of my Paradise Lost project and acknowledgement of my own resurrection. The 'two handed engine of truth and justice' will prevail in resurrecting the spirit of John Milton!"
Critical response
On Paradise Lost Series
"I plead guilty to being a fan of Terrance Lindall's illustrations – I guess that's pretty obvious to those who've seen his work on the cover of the Modern Library Milton. Plate 3 [23] in particular rocks my world, as a surfer friend of mine is wont to say." – Professor John Rumrich, Professor of English at the University of Texas in Austin
On Lindall's September 2008 Paradise Lost Festival at WAHC: "The exhibit and programs promise to be a diverse collection of multiple perspectives and strategies that should engage the audience you hope to reach." – Wendy Woon, the Edward John Noble Foundation Deputy Director for Education of the Museum of Modern Art in New York
"Lindall's image (on the cover of Random House’s 2008 Essential Milton) is, of course, the star. It seems to me at once unmistakably modern and yet just as unmistakably archaic: exactly the doubleness I was hoping for on our cover." – William Kerrigan, former president of the Milton Society of America and recipient of its award for lifetime achievement, 2007
"Radical artist and nonconformist Terrance Lindall has channeled Milton’s spirit into a modern context, in a provocative series of illustrations to Paradise Lost. His visual celebration of Milton reveals his remarkable affinity for the radical English poet, and his ability to create a fitting tribute to Milton’s enduring influence in the arts." – Professor Karen Karbiener, New York University, 2007
"Terrance Lindall’s fanciful illustrations are bound to arouse response & provoke thought in the may persons interested in Paradise Lost & its subjects & in surreal illustration generally" – Professor Thomas Clayton, University of Minnesota Department of English
"Clearly avoiding the view that Pop imagery is inherently a sign of trauma, Terry Lindall employs the cartoon elements of style with a charming and often unnerving directness and simplicity, frequently aimed at causing a trauma all his own. This is particularly the case with his illustrations of Milton’s Paradise Lost, with which he reaches a hyper-intensified and nearly hysterical verve." – Mark Daniel Cohen, critic for Review Magazine and NY Arts Magazine
"Since I was a teenager back in 1982, I’ve considered Terrance Lindall one of the globe’s greatest artists. My particular favorite is his intense adaptation of Paradise Lost, which never fails to instill a pervasive dread in my mind." – Greg Fasolino, 1997
Others
"It is nice to know there is a latter day Bosch around" – Dr. Leo Steinberg, art critic
"The high water mark in the Golden Age of this uniquely American art form." – James Kalm, NY Arts Magazine
"Surreal nightmare...DNA seems to have gone berserk" – The New York Art World Magazine, November 1999
"Natural insanity" – Art Alternatives Magazine, 1996
"Eerie, magical, dreamlike, devastating, jarring...Lindall's illustrative style is magnificent!" – Julie Simmons, Heavy Metal Editor in Chief, 1980
"Lindall's use of color & detail to achieve effect, his dramatic compositions, but most of all his totally unique vision make him a new wave artist to be reckoned with." – Louise Jones (now Louise Simonson), Warren Communications Senior Editor, 1980
"Lindall's striking and unique visionary fantasy art is breaking new ground in the field" - David Hartwell, Pocket Books Senior Editor, 1980
"My reward for the purchase of a Lindall masterwork has been a cover that draws raves. It is a very valuable addition to my collection of fine art." - Stuart David Schiff, winner of the Hugo Award, twice winner of the World Fantasy Award, editor of the acclaimed Whispers anthologies
The World’s First Grand Paradise Lost Costume Ball
Lindall created the world’s first "Grand Paradise Lost Costume Ball" [24][25], which opened the largest festival in the world honoring John Milton’s 400th birthday. The festival took place between September 27 and November 2, 2008 at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH Center), exhibiting over 70 contemporary artists from around the world and includind writers, poets, composers and performers. The exhibit included Terrance Lindall’s original illustrations for Paradise Lost.
An article by Charles McGrath in the New York Times[26] the day before the ball and ensuing festival, along with the opening ceremony with the "firing up" of Milton's head and the reading of the "testament of the poet" by Arthur Kirmss [27][28], temporarily scandalized the exhibit among Milton scholars worldwide who thought Kirmss’ ceramic bust of Milton looked like Milton's nemesis King Charles I. The Fordham University Observer said in a major article, "It’s a celebration of Paradise Lost in a most unabashed form.[29]" Award-winning UK paper The Independent said: "I suspect Milton might have trusted his vision to a heavy-metal illustrator more readily than to any licensed preacher, then or now.[30]"
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a proclamation recognizing the hard work and labor of love in creating this Milton Festival, which Random House's website confirmed as the "largest birthday tribute to Milton in the world." WAH Center founder and Artistic Director Yuko Nii personally received a letter from the Equerry of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Major Will Mackinlay, who stated that that their Royal Highnesses were “grateful” for Yuko’s “thinking of them” in inviting them to the ball, and passed on their well wishes for the success of the event.
The show had many letters of appreciation, including one from Wendy Woon, the Edward John Noble Foundation Deputy Director for Education of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, who said: “The exhibit and programs promise to be a diverse collection of multiple perspectives and strategies that should engage the audience you hope to reach." However, The New Statesman [31] called it "The Devils Party," and the controversy over the show prompted discussion blogs such as Professor Horace Jeffery Hodges' “The Milton Bash(ing) Continues.” [32]
The Paradise Lost Gold Illuminated Scroll
Terrance Lindall During his year-long celebration of John Milton's 400th birthday (which began December 8, 2008), Terrance Lindall created "The Paradise Lost Gold Illuminated Scroll," a scroll that reads from right to left like a Torah [33]. Completed December 8, 2009, the scroll is now in the Milton collection at the Yuko Nii Foundation. It is 14 inches high and over four feet long, with 24 karat gold illuminated miniature paintings. It has been well received by Milton scholars and collectors worldwide. Copies are now in some of the world's foremost collections including:
1) Huntington Library in California, gift purchased by Professor Joseph Wittreich, noted Milton scholar and collector. The Huntington’s highlights include one of the world’s most extensive collections of William Blake material, most notably Blake's original illustrations for Paradise Lost.
2) The University of Pennsylvania rare book collection, gift purchased by Professor Joseph Wittreich, noted Milton scholar and collector. The university holds over 560 exemplars of books printed in Europe from movable type before 1501. Sixty-six of these titles are the only recorded copies in North America.
3) The University of Kentucky, gift purchased by Professor Joseph Wittreich, noted Milton scholar and collector. Their collections include many famous artists.
4) The Alexander Turnbull Library in the National Library of New Zealand.
5) The collection of Robert J. Wickenheiser, one of the world's foremost collectors{[34] of Milton books and original illustrations for Milton's works.
6) Professor John Geraghty
7) The Thomas Cooper rare book library at the University of South Carolina
Scholarly reaction included:
"I think you are rather overemphasizing the 24k gold leaf, because the real 'gold' lies in the perceptions incorporated in the artist's concepts. This is the best since Blake and Doré." - Nancy Charlton, Milton Lists{[35]
"Terrance: Would that Milton had been as rich in writing about his great epic as you have been about everything you have written about your scroll and the inspiration for it. I don't mean to sell Milton short by any means because, like all great artists, somewhere in his writing can be found his own profound reasons for what he has done and why he did it. In this you stand side by side with the great bard in wanting your paintings to be appreciated and understood." - Dr. Robert J. Wickenheiser, 19th President of St. Bonaventure University
“Thank you Terrance. I am grateful for all you are doing. It is an amazing project. You are creating a great legacy.” - Professor John Geraghty [36]
“This is stunningly beautiful! There is so much to look at, both traditional and intriguingly mysterious. It really makes me think of Blake's 'Marriage of Heaven and Hell,' as well as some of the Serbian iconography I've been looking at recently in the monasteries of Fruska Gora. I visited the ancient monastery and chapel of Hopovo, and the brilliant colors of the figures crowding into the inner sanctum recall your powerful sunsets and energetic (yet static) figures.” - Professor Karen Karbiener, Department of English, New York University
The Paradise Lost Elephant Folio
In 2011 and 2012 Lindall will be working on production of "The Paradise Lost Elephant Folio," a hand-embellished and gold illuminated 13 x 19 inch book containing 14 full-page printed illustrations with hand-painted illustrated borders. {[37]
The borders of the elephant folio are complete paintings in themselves. Although the border art focuses principally on elements of design, they also tell stories or make commentary about what is illustrated in the featured central paintings. The borders also are tributes to both humanity’s great achievements, such as music, dance and architecture, as well as tribute to those individuals and institutions and friends who have had important influences on his ideas, or who have shown substantial support or affinity. For example, the Filipino surrealist artist Bienvenido “Bones” Banez, Jr. {[38] discovered Lindall’s repertoire during the Brave Destiny Show and communicated to Lindall the idea of how “Satan brings color to the world.” Lindall thought the idea to be an insightful and original "affinity" and so he honors Banez in the page of the elephant folio that is a tribute to art by placing Banez’s name under an artist's palette of colors in the border.
Works
Published Books
Blue Eyed Satori, 1970, hardcover, short stories with Yuko Nii
Paradise Lost Illustrated, 1983, hardcover
Published Art
Heavy Metal, October 1979: “Xeno Meets Dr. X”
Epic #3, Fall 1980, story by Archie Goodwin: “Worker in the City”
Heavy Metal, December 1980, story by Ted White: “Mary Quite Contrary”
Creepy #108, cover: "Visions of Hell"
Creepy #116, May 1980, cover: “The End of Man”
Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, 1980: cover for Watchstar by Pamela Sargent
Swank, November 1980, for story "A Quiet Trip to Nevada"
Zebra Science Fiction, 1980, cover for Three-Ring Psychus by John Shirley
Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, 1980: cover for Web of Angels by John M. Ford
Eerie #103, cover: "The Horizon Seekers"
Vampirella #86, April 1980, cover: "Demon from the East"
Twilight Zone Magazine Annual Collectors Edition, 1983, cover,
Heavy Metal, October 1984, story by Edgar Allan Poe: "Silence, a Fable"
Art Exhibit Catalogs
Kent State University, catalog for group exhibit (SF & Fantasy Art), 1981
Society of Illustrators Annual, hardcover, 1982
Published Writing
New York Arts Magazine, June 2000: "Epistemological Movement in Late 20th Century Art"
11211 Magazine, March/April 2004: "Documenting Williamsburg"
Art & Antiques Magazine, March 2006: "Surrealism Isn’t Dead, It’s Dreaming"
The Tomb #21, February 2007: "My Time with Warren Magazine"
Fashion Appearances
Southwick Clothing catalog, 2000
Bergdorf Goodman, Spring 2001
Vogue Magazine, September 2002
Vanity Fair, September 2002
W Magazine, September 2002
Nest Magazine, September 2002
The New Yorker, September 2002
New York Times Magazine, September 2002
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, “Fashioning Fiction,” 2004
Articles on Terrance Lindall
Art Alternatives Magazine, 1998: “Natural Insanity”
NY Arts Magazine: “Lindall Retrospective,” by James Kalm
Block Magazine: “Williamsburg’s Bad Boy,” by Alex Padalka
Articles on Terrance Lindall's Curatorial Projects
The Phoenix News, 1981: "Worlds of Wonder at the Brooklyn Museum"
The Evening Sun, Norwich, October 6, 1988: "Greenwood Museum Opens"
The Evening Sun, Norwich, October 9, 1991: "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts"
The Evening Sun, Norwich, August 21, 1992: "Celebrating 500 Years Since Columbus - The Gothic Chapel"
Block Magazine, 2003: “Surrealism and Its Offspring,” by Joel Simpson
Anna Magazine (Russia), October 2003: “The Grand Surrealist Ball”
Block Magazine, October 2003: “The Grand Surrealist Ball” by Alex Padalka
Curatorial Projects
"19th Century Decorative Arts" at the Greenwood Museum, 1988
"The Art of the American Quilt" with Margit Echols, at the Greenwood Museum, 1991
"Selections from the Library, illuminated manuscripts, 15th & 16th C." at the Greenwood Museum, 1991
"The 15th Century Gothic Chapel" at the Greenwood Museum, 1992
"Charles Gatewood Restrospective" at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 1998
"Apocalypse 1999" at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 1999
"Brave Destiny" at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 2003
John Milton's 400th Birthday "Paradise Lost Festival" at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 2008
Film Appearances
Visiting Tennessee produced and directed by Andy Spade, 2002
Films in Production
The Making of Brave Destiny
John Milton's Paradise Lost
External links
- "Lindall's Official Paradise Lost Web Site"
- "Lindall's Grand Paradise Lost Costume Ball 2008"
- "Lindall's Essay on Epistemological Art"
- "Lindall's Essay on the Death of Art"
- "Lindall's Essay on Brave Destiny"
- "Lindall's Essay on the End of Civilization"
- "Terrance Lindall - Surreal Art Collective"
- "beinArt Interview with Terrance Lindall"
- Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella covers
- "Lindall's 'Fall of Satan' on YouTube"
- "Lindall's 'Expulsion of Adam and Eve' on YouTube*
- "Paradise Lost Broadsheet"
- "Photos of Terrance Lindall"
- "Photos of Terrance Lindall growing up in Minnesota"