ROBERT MARX
Robert Marx is a 36 years old, free artist and where else could a free artist settle than in a place called Freedom, USA. Although he was only a toddler in the seventies, his work reminds us very much of the undergound comic books from the late 60's and early 70's. Not only by topic, but also in creative expression. His paintings show a lot of symbolism and his style is realistic, sometimes close to surrealism. There's a short tale told within seconds. Very fit for posters or postcards, but also for a deck of cards.
Just like many other artists Robert came up with his own suit symbols for this deck: Mushrooms (no doubt, the "magic" type), Skulls and Eyes. He kept the Hearts. Their meaning is obvious. Hearts and Skulls stand for Love and Death, the Mushrooms for in-sight -personal enlightment- and the Eyes for out-sight, a higher knowledge about the world around us.
As any free artist Robert has to sell his work to get by. He has travelled a lot for the last 21 years and since about 11 years he takes his art along. When his family is travelling they take it easy about half of the time, visiting musea and seeing the sights. The other half is spend with going to shows and selling his prints, often made underway.
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When we received the deck (thanks again for signing our Ace of Spades, Robert) we immediately noticed the absence of a distinct title on the box. Just the artist's name is |
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on the top and bottom flap. The front (or back) of the box has the same design as the back of the cards, the other side shows this circle with geometrical shapes. |
The deck consists of 52 cards and 2 jokers. It was printed by TM Playing Cards from India and published in the US by Robert Marx through his Lost Highway Productions in 2006 in a limited and signed edition of 2000 copies.
Each of these decks was signed and numbered by the artist himself on one of the sides of the box.
If you are interested to see some more of his artwork or order a deck, just visit his website.
