There are moments when the level of my ignorance is both shocking and shameful. Before this exquisite tome arrived, Graham Humphreys was unknown to me. Or so I thought. The thing is, while I didn’t know who he was, his art has been part of, and has played a major role in, my life for the last four decades. It adorns the covers of some of my favourite books and DVD’s and the gorgeously lurid film posters and VHS cases that featured it persuaded me to see more horror movies than I care to remember, so while I didn’t know his name, I was more than familiar with his work.
Hung, Drawn and Executed compiles a huge swathe of Humphreys paintings (for that is his chosen, and preferred, medium – paint, brushes and canvas) drawn from his mind boggling modern, and not so recent, body of work. Featuring some of Horror’s most devastatingly beautiful book, DVD, Blu-Ray and album covers, film and event posters and a number of private commissions that Humphreys undertook, and the personal stories behind the creation of each piece of art, Hung, Drawn and Executed is a fascinating and delightful peak behind the curtain of all too often woefully ignored facet of one of the world’s most beloved genres.
Humphrey’s love of Horror and what he does so well is apparent in every painting, story and page and the insight into the hidden world behind the scenes that this deeply personal and reverential book offers is priceless. Having a similar musical background to Humphreys and a shared love of punk rock and the ethos it imparts to its devotees I couldn’t help but feel an almost overwhelming sense of pride in the man responsible for this book. He is, was and always be one of us. He’s a magnificently talented punk rock geek who took something he loved and shared it with the world. And as well as being one of the most sumptuous, familiar and thoroughly riveting genre heavy books I’ve read in I don’t know how long, Hung, Drawn and Executed also reinforced my belief that sometimes, good things really do happen to, and for, good people. Absolutely incredible… Tim Cundle
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