ARTWORKS ASSEMBLE CELEBRATES THE artwork OF BOB KESSEL

Media release — MoCCA (the museum of Comic and cartoon Art) 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (btwn. Houston and Prince) new York, NY 10012, presents an exhibition of artworks by Bob Kessel. The show on may 17, 2012 at 6 pm is titled “ARTWORKS ASSEMBLE!” and features art inspired by comicbook super-heroes like Thor, Ironman, Captain America, Hulk, Batman, Superman, Spiderman and numerous more. The show mainly consists of prints on paper roughly 3 by 3 feet square, or ought to I say in numerous cases, diamond shaped. The art, much like comicbooks, is made out of black lines, in this case, straight lines, some razor thin, some massively thick, surrounding primary colors of red, blue and yellow. To describe Bob Kessel’s art in easy terms, his work is… simple.
“Making the easy complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple,
awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”
– CHARLES MINGUS

This remark offers a clue to an aspect of Bob Kessel’s work that his obvious iconoclasm and irreverence have tended to conceal. He has remained in an essential way a classical artist. along with the images of superheroes there is an abiding commitment to composition. The language of form is what guides him to what lies behind his trivialized subjects, whether they come from pop culture or the history of art. like all terrific artists, he uses what is around him for inspiration, commentary, and, in Kessel’s case, a healthy amount of deconstructionist verve and wit. like a jazz player, he takes a familiar tune and then uses that as a takeoff point to do his own original riffs on the theme.

Bob Kessel, born and raised in new York City, says about the show,

“Historically, artists have always painted mythological figures, Hercules, Venus, Apollo. Superheroes represent the new modern myths, so it stands to reason that they ought to be the subject of our modern art.”

Those familiar with Bob Kessel’s artwork know that he works in series. numerous are based on his comprehensive knowledge of art history with takeoffs on Picasso’s Minotaurs, Matisse’s Odalisques, or Cezanne’s Bathers. He mixes together different art styles to produce unexpected hybrids. like Japanese Kaiju (monsters) with Italian Futurism, or hi Kitty with Edvard Munch.

Now Bob Kessel has created a new art series where he turns his fine Art sensibilities on the world of Comics. He describes this show as, “The Comicbook world meets the fine Art World.” Neither one will be the same again.

“ARTWORKS ASSEMBLE!” art show by Bob Kessel
Thursday may 17, 2012: 6pm, FREE

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