The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 

Robert Sammelin created this lurid image for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2" using digital painting techniques. It appropriates the visual language of classic horror movie posters, but with a distinctly contemporary sensibility. Note the artist’s precise handling of texture and light, creating a hyperrealistic, almost tactile quality. The slickness of the imagery can be understood in relation to the means of its production, likely executed using software emulating the effects of airbrush and paint. The artist's labor is evident in the high level of detail, but it is also obscured by the efficient perfection afforded by digital tools. The image, like the film it promotes, exists in a complex relationship to production and consumption. The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise itself critiques capitalist excess even as it generates considerable profit. Paying close attention to the materials and making of an image like this encourages us to reconsider the boundary lines between illustration, commercial art, and fine art.