The Devilish and Absurd Art of James Flora
I 'discovered' Jim Flora's artwork by accident while wasting time in a used record store in Philadelphia, around 1986. When I wasn't digging through musty-smelling comic/bookstores, you could always find me in one of the many used record stores in Center City Philly looking for any discarded punk or classic rock album always hoping to find that gem that was missing from my growing collection. Being in college, money was always tight, so I had to be incredibly 'smart' with my money. Art supplies weren't cheap...and I had to eat (on occasion)...and let's no forget about the booze consumption, so needless to say, I was never flush with extra cash to blow on something stupid. Well, on this particular day I did, in fact blow an entire dollar on an album that was hanging on the wall, not knowing ANYTHING about the 'band' but based on the cover. The actual album inside was cracked, and scratched to hell- so it was basically unplayable. I didn't care...I was mesmerized (yeah, I know..a little dramatic, Ken. but you get the idea) by the artwork and had to have it. I figured it only cost $1, and it would look cool hanging on the wall above my drafting table, where I could stare at it while I was working on some dumb-ass assignment for class. So I bought it, and immediately threw the busted album in the trashcan outside the store and walked back to my apartment with the record sleeve. I never did hang it on the wall. I didn't want it to get ruined with pinholes, and this was before you could find prefab frames for albums-so I kept it safe with my other albums and would pull it out on occasion and stare at it when I needed to. This album cover has been with me since 1986, and has made the move to California, only to be 'rediscovered' in a long forgotten box of crap I've held onto for decades.
The infamous Album Cover
It wouldn't be until San Diego Comic-con 2004 that it would all come bubbling to the surface again...the forgotten album cover I had hung onto for almost 20 years, and finally the name of the artist who created it...James (Jim) Flora. It all happened by chance. I was looking through the books at The Fantagraphics Books booth, when the cover of this particular book caught my eye.. I immediately recognized the two figures on the cover! All of a sudden, I remembered the album cover I had bought in college, and wondered if I still had it...
Published 2004
I started flipping through the book, marveling at the artwork inside and then, all of a sudden...THERE IT WAS! 'my album cover' in all of its pristine glory, I was absolutely floored. Needless to say, I bought the book right then and there.
The CRISP image of the album cover in the book in all it's CORRECT colored glory...My head exploded!
James (Jim) Flora 1914-1998
It was the discovery of THAT book took me on a wonderful trip into the creative genius of Jim Flora. I purchased every new book that Irwin Chusid published with Fantagraphic Books and scoured the internet for anything new or missing. I had become a die-hard fan of his work, like other artists I had grown to admire; SHAG (Josh Agle), Tim Biskup, Lane Smith etc. My goal is to collect first edition copies of his children's books. His influence on my personal work has steadily begun to make itself more evident as time goes by...it will be interesting to see how far.
Published 2007
Published 2009
Published 20013
Here's a great video created by Pete Beard that lays out his entire career with great examples of his work. Basically, it's better than anything I could write- so enjoy!
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