Mel Odom (artist)
Encyclopedia
Mel Odom is an American
artist
who has created book covers for numerous novels, including a number of paperback editions of the novels of Patrick White
, the Australian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and several books by fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay
such as The Fionavar Tapestry
trilogy, Tigana
, A Song for Arbonne, and The Lions of Al-Rassan
. Dreamer, a collection of his work, with an introduction by Edmund White, was published by Penguin Books in 1984. Odom is also the designer of the Gene Marshall
collectible fashion doll
.
Odom was born in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and grew up in Ahoskie, North Carolina
, where his parents encouraged his interests in drawing
and in doll
s. He majored in fashion illustration at Virginia Commonwealth University
and then attended Leeds Polytechnic Institute of Art and Design in England
for graduate work before moving to New York City
in 1975.
His Art Deco
-like style established him as a commercial artist, at first via erotic illustrations for sexually oriented magazines such as Blueboy
, Viva
, and Playboy
, the last of which named him their "Illustrator of the Year" in 1980.. In the same year, he provided the cover art for Edmund White
's novel Nocturnes for the King of Naples.
During the 1980s, his work covered many commercial media. He created album covers for CBS Records and book covers for numerous other novels, usually in the genres of fantasy, mystery, or horror. He provided illustrations for the science/science-fiction magazine OMNI
and (in 1989) a front cover for Time
magazine. He also received professional recognition from his peers, receiving the Society of Illustrators
's Gold Medal (Editorial category) in 1982 and a Silver Medal (Book category) in 1987. He has exhibited his work in New York City at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and the Society of Illustrators.
Edmund White wrote in his Introduction to Dreamer: "Mel Odom's work represents an original synthesis of...two moments in the history of taste: a recuperation of art-nouveau perversities of the past but in a shiny, shadowless, innocently hedonistic space....In Mel Odom's world the perverse has become at last a candid pleasure...a vision of utopia."
In 1990, Odom proposed to design the cosmetic facepaint for Mdvanii
, a 25 cm limited-edition collector's fashion doll. The experience renewed his childhood interest in dolls and led him to create a doll of his own, the 15.5" Gene Marshall
.
Gene Marshall's appearance, wardrobes, and history are modelled on the glamour of Hollywood's golden age from the 1920s through 1950s. The doll made its commercial debut at the 1995 Toy Fair and was an immediate success, creating a wider market for large, fully articulated collector's fashion dolls in contrast to the slightly smaller and less flexible Barbie doll. Since then, Odom has largely concentrated his professional pursuits on the Gene Marshall doll, regularly modifying her design to create new variations and creating similar companion dolls to share her world, such as Gene's "co-stars" Madra Lord, Violet Waters, and Trent Osborn.
Odom continues to attend doll collectors' conventions to make personal appearances and buy dolls for his own collection, as well as to support charitable causes. At a 1997 doll convention entirely devoted to Gene Marshall, a charity auction of uniquely modified Gene dolls raised more than $30,000 for Gay Men's Health Crisis
, an AIDS service organization
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who has created book covers for numerous novels, including a number of paperback editions of the novels of Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
, the Australian winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and several books by fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction. Many of his novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid...
such as The Fionavar Tapestry
The Fionavar Tapestry
The Fionavar Tapestry is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Guy Gavriel Kay, set partly in our own contemporary world, but mostly in the fictional world of Fionavar. It is the story of five University of Toronto senior law and medical students, who are drawn into the 'first world of the Tapestry' by...
trilogy, Tigana
Tigana
-Setting:The world where Tigana takes place is a planet orbited by two moons. Kay notes that some of his readers tried to connect Tigana with A Song for Arbonne speculating the stories take place on the same fictional world, orbited by two moons; Kay explained that he only repeated the same theme...
, A Song for Arbonne, and The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Lions of Al-Rassan
The Lions of Al-Rassan is a work of historical fantasy by Guy Gavriel Kay. It is set in a peninsula of the same world in which The Sarantine Mosaic and The Last Light of the Sun are set, and is based upon Moorish Spain...
. Dreamer, a collection of his work, with an introduction by Edmund White, was published by Penguin Books in 1984. Odom is also the designer of the Gene Marshall
Gene Marshall
Gene Marshall is a 15.5 inches tall collectible fashion doll inspired by Hollywood's Golden Age. It was created by the illustrator Mel Odom...
collectible fashion doll
Fashion doll
Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adult collectors. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, though child, male, and even some non-human...
.
Odom was born in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and grew up in Ahoskie, North Carolina
Ahoskie, North Carolina
Ahoskie is a town in Hertford County, North Carolina. The population was 4,523 at the 2000 census. Ahoskie is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. Its nickname is "The Only One" because no other town in the world is known by the same name...
, where his parents encouraged his interests in drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and in doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
s. He majored in fashion illustration at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
and then attended Leeds Polytechnic Institute of Art and Design in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for graduate work before moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1975.
His Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
-like style established him as a commercial artist, at first via erotic illustrations for sexually oriented magazines such as Blueboy
Blueboy (magazine)
Blueboy is a gay pornographic magazine with pictures of men in various states of undress, first published in California in 1975.Originally featuring more "softcore" images Blueboy is a gay pornographic magazine (founded by Elisandro Patino) with pictures of men in various states of undress,...
, Viva
Viva (magazine)
Viva was an adult woman's magazine that premiered in 1973 and ceased publication in 1980. Its full title was Viva, The International Magazine For Women, and it was published by Bob Guccione and his wife, Kathy Keeton. Guccione was the editor of Penthouse, an adult men's magazine, and he wanted to...
, and Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, the last of which named him their "Illustrator of the Year" in 1980.. In the same year, he provided the cover art for Edmund White
Edmund White
Edmund Valentine White III is an American author and literary critic. He is a member of the faculty of Princeton University's Program in Creative Writing.- Life and work :...
's novel Nocturnes for the King of Naples.
During the 1980s, his work covered many commercial media. He created album covers for CBS Records and book covers for numerous other novels, usually in the genres of fantasy, mystery, or horror. He provided illustrations for the science/science-fiction magazine OMNI
Omni (magazine)
OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
and (in 1989) a front cover for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine. He also received professional recognition from his peers, receiving the Society of Illustrators
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
's Gold Medal (Editorial category) in 1982 and a Silver Medal (Book category) in 1987. He has exhibited his work in New York City at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and the Society of Illustrators.
Edmund White wrote in his Introduction to Dreamer: "Mel Odom's work represents an original synthesis of...two moments in the history of taste: a recuperation of art-nouveau perversities of the past but in a shiny, shadowless, innocently hedonistic space....In Mel Odom's world the perverse has become at last a candid pleasure...a vision of utopia."
In 1990, Odom proposed to design the cosmetic facepaint for Mdvanii
Mdvanii
Mdvanii was originally conceived as a conceptual art and fashion doll for adults by artist BillyBoy*. Since 1990 it has known to have been a collaboration with his life partner, artist Jean Pierre Lestrade . The doll was originally made in a matte Caron make-up toned hard resin and 25 centimeters...
, a 25 cm limited-edition collector's fashion doll. The experience renewed his childhood interest in dolls and led him to create a doll of his own, the 15.5" Gene Marshall
Gene Marshall
Gene Marshall is a 15.5 inches tall collectible fashion doll inspired by Hollywood's Golden Age. It was created by the illustrator Mel Odom...
.
Gene Marshall's appearance, wardrobes, and history are modelled on the glamour of Hollywood's golden age from the 1920s through 1950s. The doll made its commercial debut at the 1995 Toy Fair and was an immediate success, creating a wider market for large, fully articulated collector's fashion dolls in contrast to the slightly smaller and less flexible Barbie doll. Since then, Odom has largely concentrated his professional pursuits on the Gene Marshall doll, regularly modifying her design to create new variations and creating similar companion dolls to share her world, such as Gene's "co-stars" Madra Lord, Violet Waters, and Trent Osborn.
Odom continues to attend doll collectors' conventions to make personal appearances and buy dolls for his own collection, as well as to support charitable causes. At a 1997 doll convention entirely devoted to Gene Marshall, a charity auction of uniquely modified Gene dolls raised more than $30,000 for Gay Men's Health Crisis
Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Gay Men's Health Crisis is a New York City-based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization that has led the United States in the fight against AIDS.-1980s:...
, an AIDS service organization
AIDS service organization
AIDS service organizations are community based organizations that provide community support. While their primary function is to provide needed services to individuals with HIV, they also provide support services for their families and friends as well as conduct prevention efforts...
.