Sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to execute. Undeterred by that stigma, British artist Olly Moss has turned simplicity into an art form… or rather infused it into mainstream culture. With a style that can only be described as minimalist, Moss’ work has continued to gain in popularity over the past few years thanks to his collaborations with Mondo (check out his Star Wars tributes) and a successful series of gallery shows.
In the past year, however, Moss has spent much of his time on Paper Cuts, a solo exhibition featuring roughly 300 silhouettes of characters from all corners of pop culture. The bulk of this exhibition has been captured in Titan Books’ aptly titled Silhouettes From Popular Culture, a 140+ page tome that highlights Moss’ personal favorites from the series. A clever concept in theory, navigating Silhouettes is very much like playing a high brow version of Guess Who?, it all feels a bit too one dimensional.
I realize that I may be in the minority here, every other reviewer seems to heap nothing but praise upon the book, but I found Silhouettes to lack the charming depth that the similarly-themed The Great Showdowns (Scott Campbell) had. Even Moss’ introduction is overtly simple – exemplifying the artist’s intent, no doubt, but devaluing the incentive to pick it back up after you’ve gone through the entire series. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate what Moss has done here, simply that it’s overshadowed by it’s own simplicity. Still, if you’re interested in checking it out Silhouettes From Popular Culture is currently available from Titan Books and on Amazon.
