About this Series
It seems natural that space (and mankind’s effort to understand and explore it) was always going to take root in Dane. Maybe it started with a Florida child’s distant view of the Shuttle’s vapor trail. Maybe it started even earlier with the Greek and Roman myths that various space programs borrowed names from. However it happened, Dane grew up believing that, like those ancient stories of striving heroes and lessons learned, our space program represented some of the best of what humanity could do and be.
For this series, Dane took inspiration from an older style than the atomic era MCM he often uses for his space related art. This series is about celebration, wonder, and achievement. With Art Nouveau’s innate love of symbolism and heavy use of mythology, the style was a natural choice.
Celebrating the Apollo Program
The Apollo Program was the third and final US manned space program in the race to the moon. Built on the technology of the first two programs, Apollo leapt forward once again, ultimately placing twelve men on the moon.
As a culmination of the three space programs, it seemed proper to name it for the beautiful god who, in Greek and Roman myth, drove the sun across the sky. To represent that connection, the figure has a halo of sun rays. Behind the halo, the diagram of the phases of the moon represent NASA’s goal for the program, and there is a star in the background for each of the 17 lunar oriented Apollo missions. The print depicts further allusions to Apollo in the lyre and arrows. The raven was considered one of the God’s messengers, and in the print it holds a bay laurel branch. These were used as a sacrifice to Apollo during the Pythian Games and are widely regarded as a symbol of peace - a connection to the plaque left behind on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11. “We came in peace for all mankind.”
This giclee print is an easily frameable 13x19 inches. We use premium cotton rag watercolor paper and Epson Ultrachrome inks.
Based in Wichita, KS, Monkey Minion is a small creative company built on a simple idea. We create what we want to exist in the world.