Here's Scott Campbell with a few words about his wonderful new new book, The Great Showdowns, which depicts cartoonified iconic scenes of conflict from beloved movies.
Ever since the beginning of time, there has been struggle in the world. From Triceratops versus Tyrannosaurus Rex to Tom versus Jerry. We deal with it in our day to day lives and we like to watch it on the big screen and on our small screens in our homes. The Great Showdowns began as a little series of 10 candy sized paintings for the annual show at Gallery 1988 called Crazy 4 Cult and continued each year until the Great Showdowns site was created where it has kept going indefinitely.
These little paintings depict various moments of tension from some of my favorite films, presented as happy little characters just standing there sort of enjoying themselves. They are all smiling because they are probably very excited to be included in such a great collection. I liked imagining all of these moments at a party together just mingling and reminiscing. Some moments depict the main protagonist vs the antagonist, while others just include characters versus a situation. Han versus Greedo is an obvious showdown, while Bruce Willis versus the little smiling shards of glass from Die Hard is a little less obvious, but just as memorable. Sometimes, both the protagonist and antagonist are showing down against something together. Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves handcuffed together versus the massive smiling wave from Point Break, for example. I love films and I cannot deny how much they have influenced who I am today and what I create. Reliving these moments often rekindles special feelings of nostalgia for me and I hope everyone else. It is an ongoing project and we shall see where it takes us! Great Showdowns are for everybody!
