Han Solo by Hollis Brown Thornton
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($240) | 30"x24" ($1200)
Hollis Brown Thornton is kicking it old school again with a sci-fi favorite, and the subject matter couldn’t be a better fit for the artist’s playful pixelations. The recent announcement of a Han Solo spinoff has us feeling extra excited about today’s edition. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves—the movie’s not coming out until 2018—but we just couldn’t wait to release this nostalgic nerdery.
Skywalker schmywalker. Han Solo is a bonafide badass. He’s the ultimate space cowboy—a clever rascal complete with a trusty steed (the Millennium Falcon) and a hairy sidekick. Thornton expertly captures Han Solo’s assertive stance and characteristic nonchalance. This edition is as charming as the (fictional) man himself, and that’s saying a lot. And of course our prints are far more affordable than the price Jabba the Hutt placed on Han Solo’s head (are we outing ourselves as Star Wars geeks?).
Thornton’s pixelated vignettes of pop culture are always enchanting, but his technique seems all the more apropos with Han Solo as the center of attention. If you took Han Solo apart pixel by pixel, you might have an arrogant hothead with a selfish streak, but adding it all together he's our lovable, cocky hero. Thornton's exaggerated, inexact pixels recall the retro glory of early video games, bringing to mind the building blocks of the digital image while embracing the imperfections inherent in a pigment transfer on paper.
“Perfectly reproducing that pixel image isn't possible,” Thornton writes. “It is the exact same feeling as wanting to be Han Solo.” Accepting the impossibility of a particular fantasy doesn’t dictate giving up the ghost. Quite the contrary—there’s something admirable and poetic about purposefully attempting the impossible. We think Han Solo would unequivocally agree.
Don’t be a stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder. Take Han Solo home.
With art for everyone,
Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
