The Fine Art of Distortion

James Esber developed a fascination for distorted imagery 20 years ago, shortly after he moved to New York to start his art career. As a newcomer to the city, Esber spent much of his time making drawings. During that transitional period, he ran across a book about anamorphic projection - the distortion of objects so that they appear normal only from a particular view or through the use of a special lens or mirror. The book inspired him to start making distorted renderings of images. This approach has been central to his art ever since. Iconic or emotionally charged images from the Internet and other sources serve as starting points for his drawings and paintings. Kitsch figurines, wrecked cars, posing bodybuilders, erotic couplings and the faces of well-known people are extremely distorted and elaborately embellished in his works, which have been shown at prominent art venues in New York and Europe since the mid-1990s.

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