Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear
Cartoon Art Museum Exhibition: November 15, 2008 – March 15, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, December 4, 2008
With special guests Gene and Adrienne Colan
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Cartoon Art Museum is honored to celebrate the life and work of cartoonist Gene Colan with a career-spanning retrospective entitled Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear. This exhibition will include over 40 examples from Colan’s long creative career, from his one and only story illustrated for legendary publisher EC Comics in 1952, through his career-defining work for Marvel Comics from the 1960s and 1970s on titles as diverse as Iron Man, Tomb of Dracula and Howard The Duck, to his notable run on DC Comics’ Batman in the 1980s, to his more recent efforts, including illustrations commissioned by his fans and his beautiful pencil artwork on titles such as Michael Chabon’s The Escapist, published by Dark Horse Comics.
This exhibition has been assembled by Guest Curator Glen David Gold, author of the novel Carter Beats the Devil and many comics-related essays. An exhibition catalog featuring high-quality reproductions of Colan’s artwork and essays from many of his most notable collaborators, including writers Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart, will be available at the Cartoon Art Museum prior to the exhibition’s opening reception on December 4, 2008. Gene Colan and his wife Adrienne will be the guests of honor at the December 4 reception, and many Bay Area comic book professionals are scheduled to be in attendance. Additional information regarding this reception will be announced later this month.
About Gene Colan:
One of mainstream comics' most significant artists, Gene Colan was born in New York in 1926 and studied at the Art Students League of New York under illustrator Frank Riley and surrealistic Japanese painter Kuniashi. After a stint in the army, Colan's official career in comics began in 1944 at Fiction House and Timely. He has worked over the last 60 + years at almost every major publisher, including EC, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Bongo and Archie. His most memorable work includes unsurpassed runs on Daredevil, Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck, not to mention inspired depictions of Conan, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Beginning in the 1980s, Gene took on more varied and unusual work, including Nathaniel Dusk, Ragamuffins, The Spider (a graphic novel), Stewart the Rat, and Michael Chabon's The Escapist. Colan has taught at both the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He has enjoyed showings at the Southern Vermont Museum of Art, the Bess Cutler Gallery in New York City and Manchester's Elm Street Arts Gallery where he lectured on Comics, Cinema, and Continuity Art.
Colan is the recipient of a Shazam Award, two Eagle awards and in 2005 was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
His style is immediately recognizable for its dramatic & sweeping cinematic form, mastery of light and shadow, expression and characterization, and unusual eye-catching layouts. Colan is also responsible for the innovative use of "finished pencils" as artwork. He's the only mainstream comic book artist today whose work is usually published directly from his pencil illustrations.
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General Admission:$6.00 € Student/Senior:$4.00 € Children 6-12:$2.00 € Members & Children under 6: Free
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study and exhibition of original cartoon art in all forms.
