Barlowe's Inferno

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Wayne Barlowe shows once again that he is a master world architect, fusing an almost alien creative vision with unparalleled technical artistic skills to grant us a glimpse of the helpless horror and crushing majesty of the Inferno. This party is fortunate in having a few important Demons Minor amongst their number and would probably be safe enough in any short journey within their own kingdom. Situated on the edge of a great lake of lava on the outskirts of Dis, the Wargate’s only rival in sheer scale is Beelzebub’s Keep itself.

These float about, sometimes leaving the city’s wards entirely, making their way into the darkness of the Wastes where they are never seen again. Sargatanas – (from Barlowe’ Inferno, acrylic on ragboard) – A former seraph and now a Brigadier General and Demon Major of enormous power, Sargatanas was a hero in Lucifer’s War with Heaven.To me it is not only a natural evolution for a painter to become freer and more expressive, but, in this case, the milieu does afford one the perfect opportunity to be a bit more evocative.

His idiosyncratic style is still fresh and captivating and this painting is something of an homage to him.And I also wanted to let the paint, itself, flow a little more freely to enhance the sense of dynamism this character has always had in my mind. The Wargate – (from Barlowe’s Inferno – acrylic on ragboard) – A massive procession snakes away from the second largest structure in Hell. His renditions of Hell's landscape and bizarre inhabitants, with tormented souls and hideous demons populating the living structures, sprouts from the darkest regions of the human imagination. The only solution that satisfied my world’s internal logic was to riff on the concept behind Agares’ steed as depicted in the INFERNO book. Equipped with two massive bone-hammers and a heavy chin-blade these greatly enlarged souls are the once-cruel rulers of Asian empires transformed by the Demon Major Yen Wang to suit his needs.

Barlowe’s Inferno – (from Barlowe’s Inferno – acrylic on panel) – The unpredictable chaos of Hell is present even in the most advanced of its cities. Dis, like all of its sister cities, suffers from wrenching, deafening upheavals that tear through the city breaking away and sending archi-organic buildings high into the air. In 1971, Macmillan published "The Dragon Hoard," another children's book, which was followed by "Animal Castle" and "Princess Hynchatti and Other Stories" in 1972. Sargatanas Descending – (from Barlowe’s Inferno – acrylic on ragboard) – Like all Demons Major, Sargatanas is a metamorphic being. The Streets of Dis – (from Barlowe’s Inferno – acrylic on ragboard) Hell’s capital is a teeming metropolis of many millions.

These are works reminiscent of painter John Martin, whose own vistas of Hell hang in the world's finest museums. In this work, Wayne Douglas Barlowe dips his brush into the swirling mists and rolling infernos of Hell. Limited to just 150 copies individually signed and numbered by the artist himself, Barlowe's Inferno collects these amazing depictions of hell inside of a splendid cloth slipcase and includes a signed print, suitable for framing. At its center rears Prince Beelzebub’s Dome, the largest domed structure in Hell, beneath which is its feared Rotunda, the Prince’s audience chamber. It represents another small step towards understanding that brilliant program but is, by no means, more than an exercise.

Barlowe's visions of hell are unique and beautiful, and his intent to make them timeless and cross-cultural is fully successful.In Inferno, Barlowe envisions an entire living landscape grown and tortured into a gnashing organ of torment.