Original art from the collection of David Mandel included in “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero” Exhibition
EUGENE, Ore. – (August 7, 2009) – The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon to feature the special exhibition “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero.” Consisting of rare and valuable works by some of the most admired artists in the history of superhero comics, gathered from private collections from across the country, the exhibition will also include extraordinary original art from the collection of David Mandel.
Loans from the collection of David Mandel include “Amazing Spider-Man #26,” the complete interior art; the cover of “Giant Size X-Men #1” by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum; the cover of “Iron Man #1” by Gene Colan; the cover of “Fantastic Four #59” by Jack Kirby; and Hellboy art by Mike Mignola.
“Like many other kids, I read my first comic book years ago, and I was hooked. Occasional trips to the news stand eventually led to weekly trips to the comic store,” remembers Mandel, a former writer for “Seinfeld” and current executive producer of the award-winning HBO series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“For me, the collection of comic art is pure nostalgia. But it's not just for the books I love, but for the very specific images that help create the time line of my life. I remember where I was and what I was doing when I read that page or saw that cover that I now own,” says Mandel. “Also, I have found that ladies really dig original comic art.”
The art for the entire 18-page story of “Amazing Spider-Man #26” from July 1965, is included in the exhibition. It was plotted, penciled, and inked by the original artists and co-creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko. Ditko only drew the first thirty-eight issues of Spider-Man before abruptly quitting the book over creative disputes. He refused to draw the character again, and consequently original Ditko drawings are extremely rare. “Amazing Spider-Man #26” is one of only five issues drawn by Ditko in which Spider-Man fights his arch enemy, the Green Goblin.
“The Cover of Giant Size X-Men # 1” by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum is the most collectible comic of the 1970s. “GSX-Men #1” reintroduced a new, multi-ethnic version of the X-Men to the Marvel Universe. Kane, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s, co-created the modern versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics as well as Marvel Comics character Iron Fist. Cockrum, who passed away in 2006, co-created and co-designed several characters from the new X-Men team including Nightcrawler, Strom and Colossus. Once considered a second string title, it became Marvel’s top selling comic.
Before Frank Miller revamped Batman and created “Sin City,” he worked on a lesser-known Marvel character Daredevil. The cover of “Daredevil #181 (Death of Elektra),” produced in 1982 features Elektra, a female Ninja-Assassin. Miller’s run on the book established his reputation, and is widely considered the peak of the title. Miller went on to write “The Dark Knight Returns,” the biggest selling Batman graphic novel as well as co-directing the movie “Sin City.”
One of the great Marvel artists of the 1960s and 70s, Gene Colon created the cover of “Iron Man #1” in 1968. This marked the first appearance of Iron Man in his own comic. The artwork was later used as a commemorative stamp when Marvel produced a series of superhero stamps in conjunction with the Unites States Post Office in 2007.
The cover of “Fantastic Four #59,” by Jack Kirby, features the Fantastic Four team of Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, the Human Torch, and Invisible Girl and the character Black Bolt. In the 1960s, Kirby created many of Marvel Comics’ major characters including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Hulk along with writer-editor Stan Lee. The Fantastic Four is considered to be Kirby’s greatest creation of the Silver Age.
One of the coolest “New superheroes of the last few years, Hellboy, is also the central character of two successful movies. “Faster than a Speeding Bullet” showcases Hellboy art by writer-artist Mike Mignola, whose vivid imagination is reflected in the brilliant visual styles of the films.
Guest-curated by Ben Saunders, a professor of English at the University of Oregon, “Faster Than A Speeding Bullet” explores the imaginative world of some of the most compelling fantasy figures to emerge from twentieth-century popular culture — the superheroes of American comic books. Consisting primarily of “original art” — the large-sized pen-and-ink pages from which comic books are printed — it also includes painted cover images alongside a handful of private commissions.
The exhibition features over 150 pages of superhero comic art from the 1940s to the present, including several complete stories and key works by many major creators in the industry, including Neal Adams, C. C. Beck, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Ramona Fradon, Dave Gibbons, Don Heck, Carmine Infantino, J. G. Jones, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin, Frank Miller, George Perez, H. G. Peter, Mac Raboy, Alex Ross, Marie Severin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Wagner and many more.
“Understanding Superheroes,” a two-day conference taking place at the University of Oregon on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, will feature several panel discussion and keynote speakers including Kurt Busiek, Greg Rucka and Gail Simone.
The catalog for “Faster than a Speeding Bullet,” will be released in fall 2009. In addition to reproductions of artwork from the exhibition, the catalog includes essays by Ben Saunders, Diana Schultz, Michael T. Gilbert, Charles Hatfield and Rebecca Wanzo, as well as biographies of the major artists.
“Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero” will be on view in the museum’s Coeta and Donald Barker Gallery from September 26, 2009 through January 3, 2010. The exhibition will open with a free preview reception Friday, September 25, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest visual arts center for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing exhibition galleries. The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Association of Museums.
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Debbie Williamson-Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu
Erick Hoffman, 541-346-3162, erickh@uoregon.edu
Link: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu
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