The Art of Alex Kurtagic

Spanning nearly 30 years of the art of Alex Kurtagic, the present volume showcases five periods in the artist’s life. Mainly known for book and album cover illustration, including album covers for Black Metal bands such as Troll, Tormentor, and Dimmu Borgir, Kurtagic’s art explores the macabre, the satirical, and the sublime in a style that has been described as ‘filmic’ and ‘delightfully twisted’. Kurtagic’s work has been exhibited in Caracas, London, and Madrid; featured in Creative Review Choice, from among winning illustrators; and featured in Neil Aldis and James Sherry’s Heavy Metal Thunder: Album Covers that Rocked the World.

With a preface and introduction by the artist, the collection either digs into the background story or flies into deranged fictionalised vignettes inspired by the images. George Orwell or Louis-Ferdinand Céline may occasionally come to mind. Sometimes satirical, sometimes apocalyptic, the vignettes present a sarcastic meditation on the alarming, aggressive, or infuriating aspects of modern-day society. Readers should expect to be wrong-footed frequently, uncertain as to what might come with the next turn of the page.