The Art of Lorenzo Sperlonga (2002) Lorenzo Sperlonga, Fanfare, £11.99, pbk, 104pp, ISBN 0-86562-067-9
The latest from this format of Fanfare brings us the wonderful Lorenzo Sperlonga; depending on your background you may know his work from Playboy, Penthouse, or Hustler, or from his many Heavy Metal covers or his take on Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. Either way, if you are familiar with Sperlonga, then you won't need me to sell you on the idea of this book! If you do need a prod, then let me tell you that this is a lovely collection of exquisite pin-up images inspired or modelled by the likes of Kim Basinger, Traci Lords, Anna Nicole Smith, Julie Strain, Jodie Foster and Pamela Anderson, to name but a few. The genre material is kept to a minimum, but oddly it's still of Don Lawrence that Sperlonga most reminds me (especially in pieces like "The Huntress", a Heavy Metal cover modelled by Julie Smith). Some of his women are sensual, some strong; some are playful and some aggressive; some are blatantly sexual and others downright scary. One thing is for sure - Sperlonga is not "just" a pin-up artist. I highly recommend this book and hope that there's much more to come from this extremely talented artist.
Tony Chester
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