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Gary Panter is an oddity in the art world - he straddles commercial and fine art and offers custom drawings at knock-down prices. Yolanda Zappaterra tries to figure him out
Le Corbusier once said: 'I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.' You suspect that Gary Panter, the Texas-born illustrator, painter, comic book artist, designer, puppeteer, part-time musician, interior designer and 'author' of the forthcoming book Satiroplastic, a random, non- linear collection of sketches from 1999-2001, would agree. In fact, he goes further. 'Drawing is a simple, vital human activity,' he explains. 'Everyone draws a tiny bit, and a lot when they were kids. Drawing is the quickest way to model an idea. It stands as an end in itself and it can inform further, more complex, activity.'
So enamoured of drawing is Panter that at his fabulous website, garypanter.com, you can order a custom drawing for $150 (pound 80). This was the man who, as head set designer for the bizarre, surreal and yet-to-be-bettered TV show Pee Wee's Playhouse, won three Emmy Awards and, in 2000, a Chrysler Award for Design Excellence. The man who illustrated the Frank Zappa album covers Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. The man who designed a creche, including an aquarium, for Philippe Starck's Paramount Hotel in New York. A mere $150 for one of his drawings begins to seem like a bargain.
Panter has always drawn. 'When I was a kid I was good at drawing. I was bad at math and memorising,'...