In Pittsburgh, at the TOONSEUM, they're having an Comic Art Show called "SUPERHEROES : ICONS & ORIGINS". Basically it's an Art Gallery showing of Vintage Comic Book Art. Now, it was going to end on July 31st but now they have been extended it through August 21st. For more information, clickHERE!
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will present Tim Burton, a major retrospective exploring the full range of Tim Burton's creative work, both as a director of live-action and animated films, and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. Showcased here are just a few of the "Batman Items" that will be present. We got an original Batman Cowl from a Batman Movie, plus some Costume Design Drawings of both the Penguin & Catwoman from "Batman Returns" and one of The Joker ( Jack Nicholson ) from 1989's BATMAN. Plus, you know there will be much much more! Wow! It looks like a great show!
It will be on view at LACMA from May 29th ( This Sunday! ) through October 31st, 2011, the exhibition brings together over 700 drawings, paintings, photographs, moving-image works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, including art from a number of unrealized and little-known personal projects. Many of these objects come from the artist's own archive, as well as from studio archives and private collections of Burton's collaborators.
Also, IMPORTANT BOOK SIGNING NOTICE:
Tim Burton will be available at the LAC Museum on SATURDAY, May 28th to personally sign the exhibition catalog book. He'll be there for only 2 hours, between 12:00 & 2:00. For more information, click HERE!
There's a pretty cool art show event-thing going on at the BEAR & BIRD BOUTIQUE + GALLERY in Lauderhill, Florida that a lot of Bat-Blog readers might like to see. In fact, the show ends on July 31st so, you have until the end of this month to see it. It has a "Love of Vintage Toys" theme & a few pieces are even Batman-related. Basically, it's a group show with many artists contributing artwork & photography that is inspired by cherished toys from their childhood. They all pay homage to different action figure toy lines: You have Mego's Batman, Kenner's Star Wars, Mattel's He-Man Master of The Universe, Lego Characters, & much much more! A lot of the artwork is really amazing! Here in this post we feature the 2 Batman-inspired ones. The 1st one was done by the curator of the show & it's actually an original comic book ad for the Magnetic Batman figure by Mego, framed. She also displays the actual figure right above it...cool! The next one is an acrylic painting of a Batman String Puppet flopping around. It was masterfully done by Lora Zombie. There are too many artists & pieces of art to mention here but the flyer ( last photo ) shows all of their names. Plus, at the end of this post is a really really great video of the Art Gallery Installation & you can see all the artwork very well. For more information be sure to visit BEARANDBIRD.COM plus, if you would like to see all the art in sharp detail, be sure to visit their online Flickr gallery by clicking HERE!
WOW! The Bat-Blog is known for sharing a ton of news about Batman but this is actual BAT-HISTORY right here! The image you see up above is a photo of the original Batman Pop Art Oil Painting "done by" Bob Kane, the co-creator of Batman. The pics were sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan named Rick, who actually owns this amazing piece of art ( Be sure to click on it for a larger, sharper, image ). He explained how he got it in this email, he wrote:
In 1966, after the television show hit big, Bob Kane did a series of 12 large pop art oil paintings. This is one of them and, I think, the best of the bunch. I saw about 8 of them in the early 90's when Kane exhibited them at an art gallery in Beverly Hills. Mine was owned by Cary Grant for 20 years and hung in his guest bathroom. I've owned it since 1987.
Oh man! I've known about these paintings for years & it's so cool to actually meet someone who owns one. I've never seen one in real life, only publicity photos. To publish an actual photo of this on my blog is a total honor, no kidding, it's great! Thank you Rick for sharing your story.
Right now there's an Art Show titled "New Idols" at the Don Gallery in Milano, Italy. The show features 1980's Pop Icon Sculptures by Francesco De Molfetta. He's done a few that are a parody of E.T., Transformers, Barbie Doll, Superman, etc... Most of them are sort of political & all of them have a lot of humor. This is the one he did of Batman, or I should say, "Fatman", ha! For more info on the event, click HERE!
The CARTOON ART MUSEUM in San Francisco, CA is planning an exhibit that is a celebration of Batman's 70 year history! The exhibition starts at the end of this month ( January 30th ) & runs till June 6th, 2010. The title of the show will be BATMAN: YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW. Featured artists include Bob Kane andBill Finger, who created Batman in 1939; Neal Adams, whose detailed artistry redefined comics in the 1970s; Frank Miller, whose graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns pioneered the modern, mature concept of Batman; Pepe Moreno, whose Batman: Digital Justice was the first graphic novel with entirely computer-generated art; Jiro Kuwata, who was the Japanese artist for the 1960's Bat-Manga that appeared in Shonen King magazines in Japan; and acclaimed artist Paul Pope, whose Batman: Year 100 pays homage to the original Batman comics and looks ahead to Gotham City of the year 2039. For more information about the event be sure to visit their website by clicking HERE!
I just discovered a Pop Artist in Australia who, right now, is totally inspired by Batman & other comic book imagery. His name is Johnny Romeo. He's mainly a painter but also makes prints & books. Judging his artwork you can easily see that he is inspired by both Jean Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol. But I do have to admit that he's a great colorist. Plus these paintings do look pretty cool! If you're interested in seeing more of his artwork you can do so by clicking HERE! There you will find information to his current art openings in & around Australia. Also, down below is the promo video for his current United Galleries Art Show with the "BATMAN LANE SERIES" Paintings.
Holy Purr-fection, Batman! Catwoman herself, Hollywood icon, actress, and author Julie Newmar, will join us in person as the Paley Center presents this exclusive preview of Julie Newmar: A Life in Motion, a world premiere photographic exhibition at the David W. Streets Fine Art and Photography Gallery in Beverly Hills, featuring the performer as captured by Bert Stern, John Engstead, and Bernard of Hollywood, among others.At the Paley Center event, Ms. Newmar will introduce a special screening of the Biography special, Julie Newmar: The Cat's Meow, and be on hand for a sneak preview of select imagery from the exhibit in the Paley Center's Bell Family Gallery. Julie Newmar: A Life in Motion, will remain on view at the Paley Center until December 6, while the main exhibit is running concurrently at the David W. Streets Gallery.Admission to the exclusive screening and gallery exhibit preview is free, but reservations are recommended. Saturday, November 7, 2009,1:00 pm PT,Los Angeles, CA. For more information be sure to visit the Paley Center website by clicking HERE!
Everybody who knows me personally knows that I am a total Andy Warhol Fan. So when my friend Jeffery sent me this pic of a cool poster with "Warhol AND Batman" I was pretty happy, ha ha. This is an extremely RARE Art Gallery Poster for an exhibit of Warhol's artwork in Torino, Italy. The event happened in 1989 & the actual graphic is a large painting that the Artist did in the 1960's. I love that they chose his "Batman Logo" painting for this. It was an early piece where he was still trying to be a little bit like an Abstract Expressionist. It's a famous piece of art that you really don't get to see very often. Awesome! Thanks Jeffery!
I just recently joined a Message Board called the "Drawing Board". It's for artists & illustrators to share tips or information. Plus, it's just a great place to see a lot of neat Comic Book Style Artwork, Pin-Up Girlie Art, Portraits, Cartoon Graphics, Animation Videos, & Graphic Styles of all kind. Now, speaking of graphic style, here's an example. They had a thread where people were invited to post their personal artwork of The Joker. They call it an "ART JAM". Well, this thing must have been pretty popular because a TON of awesome artwork got posted. Because of space limitations I can only show a few as an example but, really, at the website there are many many more! So if you look at these you can see what I am talking about. I sort of picked some out at random. They all have their own unique style but also very different from each other. Some artists draw things very realistic, like replicating a photograph, while others have a "Cartoon Style". I know a lot of readers of the Bat-Blog are extremely creative people who work as artists so this post works on another level & that is, you should join the "Drawing Board" to help you become a better artist. If not in your craft, then maybe just to network with other professionals. You can visit their website by clicking HERE!
Alright! I'm really proud to be showing off this amazing artwork done by a Bat-Blog Friend named BROHAWK. His real name is David Williams, but he's a black guy with a huge Mohawk hairstyle, so everybody calls him "Brohawk"! I love that nickname, pretty funny! But all kidding aside, he's a GREAT comic book artist! Check this out - Here's an amazing piece of art he done at a comic book convention back in 2008 ( Be sure to click on it for a larger, more detailed, version ). It's The Joker's favorite girlfriend, HARLEY QUINN! She's holding a fuse-lit bomb that I bet is intended for Batman, ha ha! The details to this thing are totally beautiful. I really like the coloring too, especially the eyes. I wanna thank David for sending this to me & I also wanna invite you guys to check out his website gallery for more nice art. You can do so by clicking HERE!
This post is just a friendly reminder of a Batman-related event that happens tomorrow. So, don't forget! On Saturday, August 8th, 2009 ( 5:00pm - 11:00pm ) in Albuquerque, New Mexico the TRILLION ART SPACE ( 2nd & Marquette ) will have an art show titled, "WHY SO SERIOUS?". The show will feature art work in many shapes, forms, & sizes but all of it will have a special focus on Batman and/or The Joker. There will be paintings, photos, colleges, etc...To celebrate the event I made these 2 WALLPAPER BACKGROUNDS you can use on your desktop as a reminder. Also, if anybody goes to this thing then please let us know how it went & send us some photos if ya can, thanks!
Starting August 1st, 2009, the TOONSEUM at The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will have a special art show titled TOM RICHMOND:The MAD ART OF CARICATURE. Basically, since 2000, Tom has been one of the main artists for Mad magazine. This show will feature tons of his original artwork & the reason I'm posting it here is because there will be some Batman drawings shown too. Plus, I'm a huge fan of comic art & it's my blog, ha ha! But seriously, if you live in the area ( Pennsylvania ) then you should check it out because I bet it's gonna be a real treat to see. The show runs until October 4th. For more information, please be sure to visit their website by clicking HERE!
On Saturday, August 8th, 2009 ( 5:00pm - 11:00pm ) in Albuquerque, New Mexico the TRILLION ART SPACE ( 2nd & Marquette ) will have an art show titled, "WHY SO SERIOUS?". The show will feature art work in many shapes, forms, & sizes but all of it will have a special focus on Batman and/or The Joker. There will be paintings, photos, colleges, etc... Shown here are just a few examples. The 1st photo shows the poster for the event. The 1st painting is a large car hood that has been painted almost Graffiti-Style with a portrait of Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight Batman movie ( Awesome! ). The next one is a Cubist-Style painting of the Joker that looks exactly like Pablo Picasso's famous self-portrait ( I love the parody here, good job, instantly recognizable ). The next few are examples of image-appropriation where they have taken existing photos or art & defaced them with Joker face make-up. Plus, at the art show, there will be much more artwork & it really looks like it's gonna be an extremely cool event! So, if you live in that area be sure to check it out ( Please send us some pics if ya go! ) Oh yeah, the last photo looks like maybe a postcard they made to advertise the event or maybe it's just a flyer, not sure. But the graphics are pretty sweet!
You might remember back a few posts where I wrote about a blog called COVERED where they get different graphic artists to re-create classic comic book covers. One of the artists featured in that article was Ben Newman. After writing this piece I became more curious about what some of his other artwork looked like. So, I checked out his Art Gallery page & WOW! This guy does some extremely cool stuff & awhile back he even did a portrait of ADAM WEST for an article in "Dangerous Ink" Magazine ( which I think is in the UK ). The graphic is extremely cool! Ben admits that he's not really great at making a character look like an actual real-life person so to compensate he added a lot of things "around the character" that would remind people who he is. In Adam's case he put the Bat-Signal over Gotham City, the Joker, Batgirl, Batman & Robin climbing the side of a building, the 1966 Batmobile Car, and even the "Exploding Shark", ha ha...very clever! I love this picture & his other artwork is even just as awesome. he has a great cartoon-style! The name of his blog is BLOGOLIOLIO, you can check it out by clicking on this yellow word.
Over at my Facebook account I have a friend named J.R. Williams. Recently he loaded a few pictures in his gallery showing some recent artwork he did for an art show. Two of them were "Batman-related" so I thought I would share them here. They look like paintings done in watercolor. The coloring is done very well. I know Bat-Blog Readers will love them because they feature Batman! I really really like these & every time I see them I totally crack-up, they're hilarious! ( Oh yeah, since I mentioned Facebook I gotta ask that if you're a member there then please send me a friend request. My "Facebook Button" is located on the top right-hand side of this age ).
New from the "Little Friends of Printmaking". Printed to promote the upcoming screenings of the 1966 Batman Movie ( Adam West & Burt Ward ) at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Kids Summer Camp! A Four color poster, measuring 25" x 19", this print is signed and numbered by the artist! Here's a link for more info on how to buy it.
A friend of mine, named Dave, sent me a link tonight to an artist in Brazil named Marcelo Braga who's graphic style is pretty amazing. While visiting his site it didn't take long to notice that he must be a big fan of Batman. There's a few images of characters like Batman, Robin, Joker, etc...Shown up above is a hilarious parody of Robin, The Boy Wonder, at age 72, ha ha! Since the graphic was pretty HUGE I took the liberty of making it a desktop wallpaper ( click on it for the bigger photo ). Here's a link to check out his work. While there be sure to float through a few pages to see all his art, you'll really enjoy it. Oh yeah, also, please be sure to BOOKMARK the Bat-Blog before ya go!
This Saturday, July 19th, around 7:00pm at the PLAN 9 TATTOO and ART GALLERY there will be a special Batman-themed art show titled "THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS". The Plan9 Art Gallery is located in Meriden, CT. The address is 351 W. Main Street. Basically they have gathered many different artist's original art work, from all over the US, to celebrate the new film. It sounds like quite an event & I'm just a little upset that it's too far away for me to attend, ha ha! Sounds like a good time. Shown here is just a small amount of the artwork available. The quality & diversity of fine art they'll be showing, all of it Batman or Joker related, should be pretty cool to see. I thought I would send a shout out to my readers who live near there & let you know about it...if you go, please tell them that the Bat-Blog sent ya! Oh yeah, for more information visit their website:
A friend of mine told me about an artist who must really like Batman because he has a few examples of Batman-related artwork in his online portfolio. The artist's name is Mark Wolfe & this guy is pretty talented. Here are a few examples of some graphics he did that look like real-life playing cards. I think they would make an awesome card set. They feature Batman, Joker, & Harley Quinn ( The one of Harley is my favorite ). Down below is a link button to check out his page. If you check it out please let us know what you think about his work by leaving a comment down below. Also, be sure to BOOKMARK the Bat-Blog before ya leave!
