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Mark Batty Publisher Presents: Unruly Alphabet
November 4, 2010
Contact: Taylor K. Long
Telephone: 347.830.6271
New York, NY – October 7, 2010 - What if the letter A were an aggressive drunk who got into barroom brawls with his neighbor, B? Taking the term “word play” literally, illustrator Aaron McKinney sets the alphabet against a backdrop of rebellious behavior in The Unruly Alphabet. From hurling to undressing, McKinney’s bold renderings are darkly comical. By revealing the devilish characters embodied by each letter, they visually showcase human nature.
Aggressive and detailed, McKinney’s cantankerous glyphs compete in strange and nightmarish ways–C is chased by a devouring D, M mauls a napping N, and S swallows and terrorizes T.
“I’ve always been interested in etymology,” McKinney says. “The way words, a human constructed concept, play off one another to somehow convey thought and expression in our minds fascinates me. With that thought in mind, I decided to strip language down to its most primitive form, the alphabet. To make it interesting, I anthropomorphized each letter with some of humanity’s most common, despicable traits. With each letter playing off the next, the end result is the alphabet, a pretty inorganic and deliberate thing made more barbarically human.”
About the Author
Aaron McKinney was born in Great Yarmouth, England, in 1977. He was fortunate enough to spend his childhood scattered across the world from Scotland to Indonesia to Egypt. The constant upheaval caused him to turn inward and he began expressing his thoughts through art at a very young age. He attended Ringling College of Art and Design, where he received a BFA in Illustration. Aaron’s artwork combines a childlike fixation on funny creatures and odd hybrids with a peculiar, nightmarish monumentalism. Bold colors and watercolored, color-block backgrounds frame the pieces, while fairytale-ish spotlights illuminate key players. But the key is the absolute believability of his completely fantastical, fabricated reality. His artwork has appeared in numerous publications and galleries throughout the United States and abroad.
Aaron lives and works in Atlanta with his beautiful and inspiring wife Jen and their two children Lola and Jude. He’s currently working on a children’s book.
About Mark Batty Publisher
Mark Batty Publisher is an independent publisher dedicated to making distinctive books on the visual art of communicating, showcasing the visual power and innovation of contemporary culture in all of its varied poses. Today, the visual comes at us from more places than ever, and its dissemination is faster and more advanced every year. Books from Mark Batty Publisher capture this acceleration on the pages of every book. Affordable, well designed, thoughtfully created, and produced to last, MBP books are artful products that readers want to hold onto forever.
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The Unruly Alphabet
By Aaron McKinney
Page Count: 32 pages
Size: 7 x 9 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: October 2010
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-9356130-5-3
For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the author, contact +1 347.830.6271, media@markbattypublisher.com.
