Max Grundy has been a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer for
the majority of his life and an art teacher for several years. His work
is shown throughout the United States.
Conceptually, his work is based in America's love affair with fear
and its consequential phobias. The most effective images to motivate
people and get a reaction are images of fear. Fear motivates people to
do something or stop doing something. Media uses fear tactics on a
daily basis to tell us a variety of fallacies; that germs threaten the
lives of our children, or perhaps that our social status depends on the
degree of whiteness of our teeth. The news, as well as advertising, seems
to exploit human beings' desire for shock value. In short, FEAR IS THE
NEW BEAUTY.
Formally, he is interested in vintage poster design around WWII (sci-fi,
b-movie, comic book covers and propaganda). He admires its use of unusual
perspective, limited color palette, dramatic text and design to create maximum effect. He believes
this style has the ability to reach out and grab a viewer because of
its economical graphic quality.
His purpose in creating images of fear and phobias is an attempt to
defuse the power of fears that are used against the public by the
media.
