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John Vassos’s Phobia: Art Deco Images of Fear
Explore ten John Vassos illustrations from Phobia, where distorted stairways, doorways, forests and mechanical spaces turn particular fears into graphic art.
Climacophobia: the endless stairway
John Vassos An immense stairway curls around a dark central mass, with small human figures climbing its edge and falling into the surrounding space.
Phobia
Man emerges from an artificial womb
John Vassos A frontal human figure steps out of a dark rectangular chamber into a broad, stark landscape.
Phobia
Nichtophobia: the illuminated doorway
John Vassos A pale figure stands within a bright doorway, one hand raised towards the surrounding darkness.
Phobia
Potamophobia: the dark river valley
John Vassos A winding river cuts through a bare valley beneath black, branching trees.
Phobia
Ylophobia: the towering forest
John Vassos Huge dark tree trunks crowd the picture while small pale figures climb, fall and run between them.
Phobia
Acrophobia: figures at the precipice
John Vassos A sheer tower rises through a sharply divided black-and-white space, with a tiny figure at its summit and others falling or clinging beside it.
Phobia
Dromophobia: the monumental street
John Vassos Small figures move and stumble through a street enclosed by enormous rounded buildings.
Phobia
Mechanophobia: the human face among gears
John Vassos An oversized face appears between meshing gears, wheels and mechanical shafts, while much smaller people occupy the surrounding machinery.
Phobia
Claustrophobia: the figure in the narrow opening
John Vassos A face and pale body are compressed into a narrow vertical opening between high geometric walls.
Phobia
Pantophobia: the spiralling multitude
John Vassos A large face looks upward within broad, spiralling bands while small figures are scattered across the surrounding field.
Phobia