November 16th, 2021
The late Argentine artist Juan Gimenez was a master of sci-fi and fantasy art. He was a Heavy Metal contributor and a Jodorowsky collaborator (on Metabarons from the Jodoverse). But did you know he also designed two tarot decks?
Now, many fantasy artists have attempted a tarot deck — and not necessarily because they believe in the predictive powers of cards. There is something to be said for working within a prescribed structure, taking on the self-appointed task of applying one’s own vision to ancient symbology. Maybe not ancient, but at least very old — tarot decks have been in existence for over 500 years.
Gimenez applied his own fantastic imagination, and his unmistakable draftsmanship and painting skill, to the tarot, and the results are, as you’d expect, brilliant. We can’t say for sure whether this tarot deck was ever sold as such — or whether it was even finished. These images appear in Overload: The Art of Juan Gimenez, which is available in a hardcover edition in the Heavy Metal shop.
You may recall that up above we said Gimenez painted two tarot decks. The other one was the “Jodorowsky & Gimenez Meta-Barons Tarot,” which imagines characters from the Jodoverse as figures in the traditional tarot deck cast. This deck was published by Lo Scarabeo. (It doesn’t show up on the company’s website, but if you’re interested in a Heavy Metal artist tarot deck you might like the Luis Royo Dark Tarot or Guido Crepax Valentina Tarot.)
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