Adam Grose
Adam R. Grose is a English Writer, Artist, Lecturer and Publisher (Clown Press) known mainly for his Independent Graphic Novels and Oil Paintings. He is particularly known for his 550 page Sci-fi Epic Adventure, Cosmogenesis: The Chronicles of Quongo, with Illustrator Tony Suleri and the BBC Mock Turner Painting What Do You See?
Biography
Adam was born in Cornwall and grew up in Somerset. He began writing and drawing from an early age and contributed to a variety of magazines during his school and college years, creating a mini-comic called Judge Life which was distributed at Buckler's Mead School, Yeovil (1982-86). He created and wrote a variety of stories for a magazine called 'underGROUND' and 'Stories to Scare' from 1987 to 1992 with his friend Tony Suleri whilst attending Yeovil College, where they both studied Vocational Art and Photography (1987).
After a few years working for British Telecom, he left in 1991 to pursue an art course at Somerset College of Arts and Technology in Taunton, moving on to study a Fine Art Degree at Southampton Institute, which is now known as Southampton Solent University. In 1996 he won Best Student Proposal for a competition run by Phillips Semiconductors Research Centre in Southampton, based on how they create the drawings for their Semiconductors. He has exhibited his paintings in a variety of galleries, cafes and shops. He continues to create paintings exploring the relationship between the image and the viewer. His current work is focusing on a variety of abstractions and the figurative, exploring themes associated with politics, war and religious iconography, from a Humanist point of view.
He divides his time between writing, drawing, painting and teaching.
Graphic Novels
Cosmogenesis: The Chronicles of Quongo
He began writing the 550 page graphic novel Cosmogenesis: The Chronicles of Quongo in 1998. The first issue, The Skull of Muluc, was published in May 2001, followed each year by the next five books in the series; Bloodlines (2002), The Sword of Xian (2003), Armageddon (2004), The Shadow Falls (2004) and Rebirth (written in three acts) (2005/6). The series was collected together as a Trade Paperback in December 2007 and released to rave reviews. It has been compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien (Redeye Magazine), Franz Kafka and Joseph Campbell (Down the Tubes), in its scale and depth of this epic mythological tale. The saga contains many hidden codes that readers can decipher, leading to a deeper understanding of human history as told and written down in myths and expressed in celebratory rituals.
"Upon finally finishing this comic I felt I had just read a complete, successful and highly enjoyable piece of comic storytelling... Unlike any other sci-fi fantasy epic since Tolkien." Redeye Magazine
"...embracing and developing many IDeaS and concepts dear to the creators' hearts, and, is a far cry from many of the simpler comic tales you may enjoy on a regular basis. But if you're looking for thought provoking, mind-boggling storytelling then give this a try." John Freeman
One of the key premises from the story is the spliting of oneness, towards the duality of consciousness. This oneness is represented by the Guardian Lord Ahau and the Guardians, who are the keepers of a manipulated truth. Their minds are at one with all, not divided into two hemispheres, like other species. Quongo, the protagonist represents the consciousness before sapiens and the subsequent alien races which inhabit throughout the Galaxy of Nom-Yakk. As the catalyst, he was to bring 'humanity and alien species together', returning knowledge to join the divided consciousness of the 'fallen sapiens', namely Kazair, and return Kaizar and Racocha consciousness back to the universal energy force known by many as Kai-Dai or to some K'Dar. This would herald a change within all living matter, joining the 'divided' and bring oneness to all.
This is further analysed in The Dilemma of Quongo - reference #8. 1
The Prison and Other tales
In May 2008 Adam released the 52 page graphic novella The Prison and Other Tales, a collection of short stories, poems and tales based on his observations of the world, involving Politics (Generation X, Y and Z, The Prison), Love (Early One Evening: The Trainspotter, Shamanic Healing) and Fantasy (The Witch, Candlelight).
"‘The Witch’– a tale about a lady who makes herbal remedies to heal backache and gets burnt as a witch – proves effective at highlighting mankind’s ignorance through more conventional story telling means." Dave Hailwood
"BRILLIANT! I was throughly impressed by both the depth of content and the artwork. My particular favourites are Truth, Justice and Understanding and The Love of a Train-spotter." Preston Beaton2
Other Publishers
He has contributed work to Insomnia Comics creating Time Wave Zero for their publication 'Layer Zero: Choices'3 which in part looks at a theory by Terence McKenna on the 'concrescence of space and time' through our consciousness being attracted toward a future self. A further examination can be found by reading McKenna's novelty theory.
Current Projects
Current projects include The Dragonfly: An Eleanor Moreau Mystery, a Detective Story told in twelve chapters 5. Chapter One is currently available online at Clown Press. This will see print as a graphic novel in 2010.
An onomatopoeia fantasy piece called Phoenix: A Warrior's Tale with Tony Suleri, to be published in September 2009. He is also working on a short story for Insomnia Comics called Childhood Survival for their 'Layer Zero: Survival' anthology out in 2010 and a larger graphic novel which will explore hidden knowledge based on the origin of human civilisation and how this links to current political events and modern popular culture.
Music
Adam creates 'soundscape' albums, experimenting with a variety of sounds, weaving improvised landscapes of sound. He has released Between Heaven and Earth (2004), Stars (2006) under the name of DJ'El and Sol (2008) under the name of Starboy. He is currently working on a classical inspired album for release in 2012.
Bibliography
- underGROUND #1 - 9, 1987 - 1990
- The Man Who Hated Tuesdays, 1988
- The Devil's Day is Tuesday, 1989
- Tuesday is a Good Day, 1990
- The Difference, 1988 - 1990 (Art by Tony Suleri)
- Stories to Scare #1 - 3, 1990 - 1992
- Comics aren't just for Kids - (Experimental), 1995-96
- Cosmogenesis: The Chonicles of Quongo TPB ISBN: 978-0955605406 (Clown Press. Originally published as a six issue series. 1998-2007)6
- Clown Press Presents: Previews #1, 2006
- The Prison and Other Tales ISBN: 978-0955605413(Clown Press, 2008)7
- Insomnia Anthologies: Layer Zero: Choices (2009) ISBN: 978-1905808168 8
- Phoenix: A Warrior's Tale - Sept 2009. 9
Art Shows
- Southampton Institute Library with Mark Reed and Nick Grove, Southampton (1995)
- Millias Gallery - Second Year Fine Art Selected Students Exhibition, Southampton (1995)
- Millias Gallery - Phillips Competition Exhibition, Southampton (1996)
- Louder Than Bombs - New Work by Young Contemporaries. The Tannery Gallery, London (August 1996)
- Blu Cafe Gallery, Bournemouth (1998)
- Snaffles Cafe, Yeovil (2000)
- Bowen & Co, Martock (2002-06)
Music
- Between Heaven and Earth, DJ'El 2004
- Stars, DJ'El 2006
- Sol, Starboy 2008
Awards
Phillips Semiconductors Research Centre, Best Student Proposal. The Sculptor tutor John Thompson won the main prize. Southampton, 1996.
References
- 10, 11, 12
- http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ql7ATHGee50C&dq=hamlet's+mill&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=GQEWSv_NDtWZjAex7r3gDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPR23,M1
- http://www.sitchin.com/
- http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/1.htm
- http://adgros.blogspot.com/2007/08/dilemma-of-quongo.html