An Interview with Painter Daniele Serra

May 22, 2024 5:13 AM

"I think my first impact with horror images could be traced back to my childhood. I was used to leaf through my father’s art books, I saw that Giotto as well as many other painters, flemish and Reinassance painters, often painted Hell, demons, obscure atmospheres, where death and popular beliefs shroud their magnificent paintings."

If you've spent much time reading horror fiction in the last decade, you've probably seen Daniele Serra's art illustrating recent and classic works of horror, often the cover.

2018 interview

2014 interview

Artist's website.

posted by cupcakeninja (6 comments total)

His work reminds me of Stephen Gemmell's work in the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. And that is a compliment.
posted by Kitteh at 5:18 AM on May 22 [4 favorites]

Has control of the medium. Watercolor can be difficult, acrylic washes likewise. Would put this in the illustration category. Will it ever grace the walls of some chic Soho gallery? Doubtful. But I admire the artistic skill and control of the medium.
posted by Czjewel at 6:40 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]

grotesque, but in a good way

images initially reminded me of Edvard Munch, yet rereading the selection brought thought to Hieronymus Bosch

seeing where Hell is kept, now pondering a memento mori in a Saint Francis by Annibale Carracci
posted by HearHere at 8:43 AM on May 22 [2 favorites]

One thing I like about Serra is that he captures an atmosphere--a sort of melancholic fear, or a nervous sorrow--without veering into either coziness or fetishiness. There's an air of desolation without either dehumanization or winking. I think that must be very hard to do--a lot of art around horror doesn't manage it. Gabino Iglesias had a recent tweet showing off some of Marcelo Bordese's work, and while the style and voice are a million miles away from Serra, it kind of gets to what I think of as successful horrific art, a suggestive wrongness, a disturbing fleshiness, something that bothers. The recent FPP on Patricia Piccinini also captured this, I thought.
posted by mittens at 9:01 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]

This is right up my (questionable, poorly lit) alley, thanks.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 9:41 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]

Just here to reiterate the Stephen Gammell vibe [kitteh], which really describes the niche. Sometimes, the strength of the art work is how dreamy and inscrutable it is. Place it next to a text and say it's related. Now you're forcing the audience to stare into something unsettling and uncomfortable because they want to resolve the mystery. It's a really good trick. I'd almost say its a progenitor of something like FNAF or SCP or any other collaborative horror/fantasy. Strange juxtaposition invites discussion. Something strange through an obscured lens. Scary stories were made for campfires, all the pleasures that come from sharing something uncanny in an underlit place with friends.
posted by es_de_bah at 9:59 AM on May 22 [1 favorite]