Friday, June 1, 2012

"Art of the Fantastic" opens tomorrow

The museum exhibition "At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic" opens tomorrow at the Allentown Art Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The paintings and sculpture encompass the worlds of mythology, fairy tales, dreams, monsters, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, surrealism, and the bizarre. Right: "Beauty and the Beast" by Thomas Blackshear

Organized by Patrick and Jeannie Wilshire, founders of IlluxCon, the show includes about 160 works of from 145 artists, roughly 45 of them predating 1940. It's unlikely that a larger or more comprehensive museum show of this kind will ever be assembled in our lifetimes.


There will be a preview party Saturday evening (public invited, tickets still available), and the museum opens for free on Sunday. I have two Dinotopia paintings in the show (visible on end wall), and I'll be attending both days. The show will be on view through September 9.

At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic
Muddy Colors Post with more information

3 comments:

smileyginger said...

oh noes... I didn't realize you would be there on opening weekend. I'm planning to go later this month - can't wait.

Unknown said...

I attended earlier this evening. I have to say I was excited but the event was beyond what I was expecting. In addition to the contemporary fantasy art you would expect, there were some enormous N.C. Wyeth canvasses and even a proof of a William Blake lithograph, which was a REAL treat to see. It was so much more delicate and intimate than his prints are when reproduced from lithographs using modern printing methods.

Honestly, the busyness of tonight was not the best way to look at the pieces but I live in the area so I will be going back. The exhibition is massive and it would be impossible to satisfy oneself with a two hour perusal!

A few more highlights: The Frazetta John Carter drawing that was an obvious self portrait. The amazing ultra-realistic, life-size fantasy sculptures by an artist who I cannot remember the name of.

Every piece was amazing.

Mr. Gurney, thank you for posting the information about this link. Also, it was a pleasure meeting you are thank you for signing my copy of Color and Light! Your paintings were even more lovely in person than they are in your books.

James Gurney said...

Thanks, Stephen. Yes, there were so many people at the opening, and so many conversations that I enjoyed, that I hardly looked at the artwork. I'll be back on Sunday for more.

The artist who did the amazing life-size, realistic sculptures is Thomas Kuebler, who came up from North Carolina to attend the opening.