Monstrous 1989

Editor: Ken Kelly’s “Monstrous” from 1989 looks like a paperback cover waiting to happen. The muscular hero confronting a monster, while a woman watches on... What stands out to me is the dynamic energy of the scene. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see more than just a pulp adventure. Let's consider the broader cultural context of the 1980s. This painting, rendered in the fantasy genre, arrives amid anxieties about shifting gender roles and societal power structures. Note the hyper-masculine hero confronting what appears to be pure, animalistic aggression. Editor: Interesting! I hadn’t really thought about it like that. So, the hero is upholding traditional ideals, in a way? Curator: Precisely! But consider also the female figure, seemingly passive, observing this power dynamic unfold. She’s guarding something of value - perhaps something to be won by either the hero or the monster. The painting becomes less about simple good versus evil, and more about competing patriarchal forces. We are left to consider how gender plays into the conflict depicted here, as if womanhood is only there as the prize of men and their fights. Editor: That’s… definitely a different take than I had. So, it’s less about just a battle and more about who benefits from the battle? Curator: Exactly. And what narratives are reinforced by representing conflict in this way. Ken Kelly might’ve intended just fantasy escapism, but the artwork is inescapably linked to those larger conversations, no matter what. Editor: This has been a wild reinterpretation of something I had dismissed initially as lowbrow; I learned how fantasy reflects, even unintentionally, societal anxieties about gender and power. Curator: Indeed. Seeing beyond the surface is what makes art history such a vibrant field. This painting reflects societal structures and how power dynamics may still look the same after so much time has passed.