Extreme Canvas

 

What is my favorite of all the books in the vast Kindertrauma library, you don't ask? Why it's EXTREME CANVAS: MOVIE POSTER PAINTINGS FROM GHANA by Ernie Wolf III don'cha know. Not only is it a freaking universe of visual entertainment, but it also doubles as the world's greatest cool person detector. When stranded strangers stop by the mansion unexpectedly I show them this volume over tea. If they like it… friends for life! If not… well it's a shovel to the back of the noggin and under the floorboards with that philistine! You really do have to see it to believe it. Over yonder in Ghana, folks not having enough moola to have their very own VCRs would gather in public places to watch videos together much like we used to do in theaters. Movie companies naturally didn't send them promotional posters to advertise these back-yard entertainments so they simply painted their own. Some use popular iconic images of the featured movie and some are just straight out of the artist's imagination. What results is something so glorious that the next time you bump into a hoity toity gallery owner at a cocktail party you will immediately throw-up in their martini glass. These beauties bring to mind everything from circus sideshow banners to high school notebook doodles. Some have so much wear and tear that they resemble ancient tapestries. The book is giant and covers action, sci-fi and exploitation films as well, but of course, the highlight is the horror section. Below are some samples of the most kindertraumatic of the images (that I could fit on my scanner). Trust me, there's tons and tons more and they are all equally amazing.