Mindviscosity

by Matt Furie

This is a collection of paintings, a one-man bestiary of monsters, weirdos, beasties, and anthropomorphs, all painted in Furie's meticulous brand of representational surrealism. Furie's cheerful, anthropomorphic comics character, Pepe the Frog, became a meme that was appropriated by hate groups (as seen in the documentary Feels Good Man, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.) Furie’s recent paintings reflect this experience. This is a showcase for an unsettling menagerie; creatures seem to be hiding their true intentions. Furie is plumbing darker depths in these works, despite the paintings' inviting colors and friendly cartoon iconography.

Genres: Art, Comics, Graphic Novels

191 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Matt Furie is from Columbus, Ohio. He is the subject of the documentary Feels Good Man, which is about how his gentle character, Pepe the Frog, was co-opted. Winner of the best Visual Artist in the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s 20th annual Goldie awards, he’s exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. Furie is also an accomplished illustrator; in addition to his comic book series Boy’s Club, he’s published a children’s book, The Night Riders. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tá diverzita postáv je neskutočne boží a s každou stránkou som chcela vidieť viac.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matt Furie returns. Four years after the book Boys Club (and a near career-killing appropriation of its character Pepe by various white nationalists), Mindviscosity is a portfolio his stand-alone pictures (plus some panels that seem to be a draft toward an idea that never congealed into a story). His work shows him to be as comfortable with the adult and grotesque as he is with the childlike. (The Night Riders, his book for 4-8 year-olds, came out eight years ago. While Mindviscosity has many images that children would enjoy, this is not a children’s book.)

The cartoon style his best-known works are based on features monstrous and ludicrous faces and figures, rounded shapes, large eyes, and primary and secondary colors. Oh, and a juvenile sense of humor. (No stories here, alas. But he and Johnny Ryan can go head-to-head (as it were) any day, vying for King of Vulgaria—which, in my book, is a feather in their respective tiaras.)

But there are some surprises here. For one, his draftsmanship is shown as nimble in his pictures of birds. Even more impressive are his pictures of entwined and looped snakes of different species and colors, making “abstract” color patterns from real objects (posed impossibly).

Mindviscosity is a treat for Furie fans. Newbies should begin with Boys Club or, if you don’t appreciate bong and dick jokes, try The Night Riders, instead.

[Andrew Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this with a ticket to the digital premiere of the film "Feels Good Man" (which I found to be a truly compelling documentary that you can now stream wherever people stream movies if you're into movies that help put together how we got to this gross/bad/bleak political moment but want to come out the other side thinking heymaybeitcanbeokay?). That film, primarily about how Matt's creation Pepe the Frog was co-opted by the Alt-Right, is only tangentially related, but worth a plug! Matt Furie's art here is strange, gross, silly, fun. A nice escape from...I mean, you know.

[think blue count two · Rating 5 out of 5]

i opened this right on the heels of a meaningful event in my life and i was floored, it really clicked hard. there's so much energy and humanity and narrative power in here, i am so impressed. i could say a LOT more if i was willing to "make this (public book review) about myself" but i am not, so suffice it to say i had a lot of personal thoughts and was really moved.

[Olya Gherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Якщо змішати поп-культуру із Босхом, то вийде «Mindviscosity», тривожний, психоделічний та похмурий звіринець у привабливих кольорах від творця одного з найвпізнаваніших мемів у світі 🐸 Фʼюрі занурив своїх мультяшок у темніші глибини, а нам на це дивитись та співчувати їм усім 🤷‍♀️

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible level of detail and creativity. Gives me Hieronymus Bosch vibes.

[Cameron (readsandwritesbyc) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a fun, zany, artistically pleasing book to round off 2021!

[David Morillo Barrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t have words for this. It’s truly amazing to see the art of Matt. It’s psychedelic, funny, beautiful and scary at the same time. The amount of material that can be a tattoo is unimaginable.

[Marek · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.1
Panie Matt, dostaje Pan dwóję z minusem, bo jednak coś tam Pan potrafi. Ale nie przekonuje mnie to ani trochę.