Marvel at Andreas Englund’s Aging Superhero Portraits

What happens when the spandex doesn’t fit and it’s time to start taking up hobbies? That’s the subject of artist Andreas Englund’s oil painting series, “Aging Superhero.”

The images depict what looks like a pulp-era crime fighter (think Lee Falk’s The Phantom) suffering from a deep case of midlife ennui. And bunching up in the bathing suit area.

The series is explained on Englund’s site:

“In a kind of tender comic on a huge canvas, Englund describes the hero who is slowly but surely spending his remaining years with human traits as a link between the artist himself and the viewer. It was extremely important to Englund to portray the aging process with an intensified presence. If you want to accord credibility to a character, the character himself needs to face up reality and the aging process. He has to acknowledge to himself that he cannot live up to expectations and that the “perfect life” is nothing more than wishfulness. Englund’s artworks are focused on the maturing process. Even in the old age it is still possible to achieve something valuable although someone’s drive and vigour won’t bluster out explosively. Nevertheless everybody in his advanced age deserves to be recognised and respected for what he has achieved in life.”

What I love about the paintings is the sheer “I’m getting too old for this s**t” attitude of the series, treading that fine line between exasperation and tough old guy attitude. What I wouldn’t give to see this old guy tearing it up in a movie or something.

Head to Englund’s site to see more from this series.

[Source: Juxtapoze via This is Colossal]