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Heart of Darkness
The Illustrated Edition
Following his massive—and massively successful—Moby Dick in Pictures, artist Matt Kish has set himself upon an equally impressive, and no less harrowing, task: illustrating each page of Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece, Heart of Darkness.
Kish’s rich, imaginative drawings and paintings mirror Conrad’s original text and serve to illuminate Marlow’s journey into the heart of the Congo, and into the depths of the human soul. Heart of Darkness is a text ripe for analysis and argument, formally and thematically; it explores matters of imperialism, racism, gender, and the duality of human nature. Kish’s illustrations add another layer, and another voice in the conversation. Heart of Darkness: The Illustrated Edition is an essential edition for fans and students of Conrad’s work, but is, above all, a piece of art all its own.
Kish’s introduction lends context to his approach, details his relationship and struggle with Conrad’s work, and illuminates his own creative process. An index in the rear of the book catalogs the sentences and phrases that inspired each of the one hundred original pieces of art.
Praise
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The brilliant mind behind Moby Dick in Pictures is back to illustrate Joseph Conrad’s classic.
—Flavorwire
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Darkness never looked so good: Matt Kish’s illustrated edition of Joseph Conrad’s classic follows the template he created with Moby-Dick in Pictures.
—The National Post
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For your friend who slept through English class, an illustrated version of a classic: Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad and illustrated by Matt Kish.
—The Airship
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Two years after his infinitely wonderful illustrations for every page of Moby-Dick, which ranked among the best art and design books of 2011, self-taught Ohio-based artist Matt Kish returns with an equally exquisite edition of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (public library). With one haunting acrylic-paint-and-ink illustration for every page, Kish, whose artwork was included in the excellent compendium The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3, reinvigorates the Conrad classic and its timeless themes of race, gender, power, privilege, and the dualities of the human soul.
—Brainpickings
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