The Merlin Years: The Art of Team Macho: Review for FoRMATS

The Merlin Years: The Art of Team Macho is one of many publications selected for this month’s Formats X Roxanne Arsenault: KITSCH. This is the second monograph of the Toronto-based art collective Team Macho and includes over 150 illustrations surveying works created between 2007 and 2012, as well as interviews and essays on Team Macho’s practice.

With roots in classical illustration, the foundation of Team Macho’s ethos is to reclaim the notion of “serious art.” The collective was formed after the members decided to leave behind their commercial art education in order to pursue what A. James Bradley calls the “Macho Lifestyle”. 

Inverting expected notions of what serious art should be, Team Macho approaches its work as though it is valueless in nature. The four members of the collective each contribute to the creation of scenes that demonstrate an impeccable level of technical prowess, only to destroy them with crude or humorous additions that completely shift the viewer’s initial impression of the work.

Flipping through this monograph, published by Magic Pony and Narwhal Projects, readers will view scenes like a fishing boat in a classically painted seascape interrupted by a giant dog head erupting from the water, or a portrait of Spock depicted as a bizarre version of Batman.

Team Macho’s artistic process deconstructs preconceived notions of fine art, maintaining that serious art can stretch beyond serious content.

Originally published on FoRMATS Facebook Page: December 10th, 2013