Comic-Con International Presents “The Art of Comic-Con” Gallery Exhibit
Left to right: Justice League by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair TM & © DC Comics; San Diego, Here I Come by Harvey Kurtzman © Harvey Kurtzman estate; APE 2012 Program Book cover by Gilbert Hernandez and Paul Baresh © 2012 Gilbert Hernandez; Batgirl by Babs Tarr TM & © DC Comics.
Comic-Con International is pleased to partner with the San Diego Public Library in the presentation of The Art of Comic-Con. Since the first convention held in San Diego 45 years ago, Comic-Con has been bringing together comics, movie, and science fiction fans, and creating a lot of great art along the way. Drawing from Comic-Con's archives, the exhibition celebrates art as an integral tool in promoting the organization’s mission of creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms.
The Art of Comic-Con opens Saturday, June 20, 2015 in the Art Gallery on the 9th Floor of the San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common at 330 Park Blvd. in downtown San Diego. It will run through August 30, 2015. A reception is planned on opening day from 12:00 to 2:00 PM. The exhibition and reception are open to the public and admission is free.
Providing unprecedented access to original art by over 60 comics artists, the exhibition traces the history of Comic-Con through art and provides a sneak peek into the evolving process of creating comic art. Visitors to the show will have the opportunity to see process drawings in a variety of mediums that were used in souvenir and program books for Comic-Con, WonderCon, and APE, the Alternative Press Expo, artwork that is representative of the comic books and comic art Comic-Con International presents to a growing audience.
Original Justice League art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams for the 2011 Comic-Con International Souvenir Book TM & © DC Comics
The Art of Comic-Con presents select pieces from the organization’s archives, including works by Sergio Aragonés, Howard Chaykin, Cliff Chiang, Michael Cho, Colleen Coover, Rick Geary, Gilbert Hernandez, Jim Lee, Dave McKean, Frank Miller, Marshall Rogers, John Romita Jr., Bill Sienkiewicz, William Stout, Babs Tarr, and others. The exhibition was developed and jointly organized by Kara West, the Library’s Arts and Culture Exhibition Manager and Gary Sassaman, Comic-Con International’ s Director of Print and Digital Media.
About Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International: San Diego is a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.
About the San Diego Public Library’s Exhibition Program
This program allows free access to cultural exhibitions and the visual arts, while promoting San Diego artists and creative community groups.
Additional information on current exhibitions at the Central Library and 35 branch libraries is available on the Library’s website at www.sandiegolibrary.org.
San Diego Central Library Photo by Full Circle Image, Natalia Robert