MARK TWAIN AND THE RISE OF THE HAIRY NATION
MARK TWAIN AND THE RISE OF THE HAIRY NATION is an 8x6 signed print on heavy paper inspired by another inane book cover from my overwhelming ephemera stash. The book is “The Rise and Progress of Civilization in the Hairy Nation,” an 1883 historical work by Henry C. Ethell detailing the frontier settlement of Davis County in Iowa. The peculiar nickname for its inhabitants comes from observing its earliest settlers who were, allegedly, a rough, rowdy, unkempt group of men. Hasn’t our nation come a long way since then!
I adapted the cover (moving title higher but keeping its bad line breaks and brightening the colors.) I found some forest creatures from different periods called woodwose (wodewose) who were wild men in medieval folklore. Usually drawn as bipedal, they were ape-like humanoids covered in an excess amount of body hair. Manscaping and malemaxxing had not yet reared their ugly heads.
I adapted a b&w photo of a shirtless Mark Twain who remarked that humans were the lowest animal in the kingdom. "I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.”
Twain also pointed out that we’re the only creatures who wage war, practice slavery, and inflict pain for sheer amusement. “And, Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”
Furthermore, "While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats.”
See more here on Artspan, peterjketchum.com. #marktwain #hairy #humanoids #hairynation #iowa #americanfrontier #manscaping #malemaxx #woodwose #wodewose #medievalfolklore #shirtless #redhead #ketchumart #peterjketchum
I adapted the cover (moving title higher but keeping its bad line breaks and brightening the colors.) I found some forest creatures from different periods called woodwose (wodewose) who were wild men in medieval folklore. Usually drawn as bipedal, they were ape-like humanoids covered in an excess amount of body hair. Manscaping and malemaxxing had not yet reared their ugly heads.
I adapted a b&w photo of a shirtless Mark Twain who remarked that humans were the lowest animal in the kingdom. "I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.”
Twain also pointed out that we’re the only creatures who wage war, practice slavery, and inflict pain for sheer amusement. “And, Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”
Furthermore, "While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats.”
See more here on Artspan, peterjketchum.com. #marktwain #hairy #humanoids #hairynation #iowa #americanfrontier #manscaping #malemaxx #woodwose #wodewose #medievalfolklore #shirtless #redhead #ketchumart #peterjketchum