Frank Cho is an iconic artist known for his takes on everyone from Wolverine and The Hulk to Shanna the She-Devil and beyond. To honor his lauded career, the Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York has just opened a career-spanning exhibition, and Comic Book Club has your exclusive look at several of the pieces on display, including one NSFW piece. Just a warning there.
“I want to revive the classical sensibilities of the Golden Age of Illustration into comics breaking boundaries and seamlessly blending genres into a visually striking and harmonious style,” said Cho via press release.
Added Labaune, “Perched at the intersection of classical illustration and the kinetic energy of comic art, Frank Cho resists easy classification. His work prompts the question: which came first – the illustrator or the storyteller? Is it his command of line and form that breathes life into his comics, or did the narrative demands of comics sharpen his precision and elevate his draftsmanship? In Cho’s case, the answer is both. Like the chicken and the egg, his illustrative elegance and comic vitality are inseparable, each feeding and refining the other in a seamless, self-sustaining loop. This exhibition reveals his evolving fine art sensibilities, personal sketchbook studies, mastery over the ballpoint pen, and new paintings that echo the vitality of Frazetta, the sensuality of Manara, the precision of Darrow, and the mischievous wit uniquely his own.”
The gallery exhibit includes pieces from, per PR, “the artist’s personal sketchbooks, new paintings, and examples of Cho’s fan-favorite comic art from titles such as Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Conan the Barbarian.”
Want some of those examples? Then check this out. First up, covers to DC Comics’ Catwoman #72 and #81 (click for larger versions):
Then we’ve got a pencil drawing of the internet’s favorite large lady they want to step on them, from Resident Evil, Lady Dimitrescu:
And finally, here’s that NSFW picture we noted, titled “Broken Angel”:
Here’s some official info on the exhibition, if you would like to check these pieces out in person:
The Frank Cho Exhibition will be open to the public from Friday September 19th until Saturday October 25th. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, September 18th from 6pm to 9pm .
The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open from Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm. The roots of Philippe Labaune Gallery have a strong European influence: among the artists are esteemed creators such as Lorenzo Mattotti, Nicolas de Crécy, Guido Crepax, Dave Mckean or François Schuiten. In recent years, American artists such as Landis Blair, Rebecca Leveille Guay, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Paul Pope, and Peter de Sève have helped Philippe Labaune Gallery to foster a community of overlapping art collectors and comic fans from all over the world.
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