Marvel OA at Seattle's MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture) 0

[Dick O.]

Hey all, check out @Knightsofold's thread:

Contains nice pics of many jaw-dropping pieces!

 

[williamhlawson]

Wow, wasn't expecting to see that. Thanks for pointing this out! Stunning, jaw dropping assemblage. 

[vodou]

Very nice OP, thanks for linking to this. I would have otherwise missed it.

One thing we often bat back and forth here is framing suggestions. This is a good opportunity to borrow two pictures from that thread and post them here, both popular ways to frame art.

and

I'll make the argument again that a white mat with off-white/cream frame solution is superior as it brings the art to the fore not the surrounding materials, gently blending all that into the wall.

As nice as that Avengers cover is (anybody want to disagree?) the heavy black surround really deadens the presentation, especially when directly compared to the Ant Man splash.

[delekkerste]

2 minutes ago, vodou said:

Very nice OP, thanks for linking to this. I would have otherwise missed it.

One thing we often bat back and forth here is framing suggestions. This is a good opportunity to borrow two pictures from that thread and post them here, both popular ways to frame art.

and

I'll make the argument again that a white mat with off-white/cream frame solution is superior as it brings the art to the fore not the surrounding materials, gently blending all that into the wall.

As nice as that Avengers cover is (anybody want to disagree?) the heavy black surround really deadens the presentation, especially when directly compared to the Ant Man splash.

I generally prefer a white mat as well.  But, to me, the real debate is not black mat vs. white mat, but, do you show off the entire page (like the Ant-Man splash), or, do you cut off the margins and just show the image area as with the Avengers #57 cover?

In most cases, I prefer to see the entire page, including any margin notes and such, as opposed to just cropping it down to the image area.  

[vodou]

1 minute ago, delekkerste said:

I generally prefer a white mat as well.  But, to me, the real debate is not black mat vs. white mat, but, do you show off the entire page (like the Ant-Man splash), or, do you cut off the margins and just show the image area as with the Avengers #57 cover?

In most cases, I prefer to see the entire page, including any margin notes and such, as opposed to just cropping it down to the image area.  

Floating in a window...of course

[Mr. Machismo]

Amazing. Thx for sharing. 

[stinkininkin]

3 hours ago, delekkerste said:

 

 

3 hours ago, vodou said:

Very nice OP, thanks for linking to this. I would have otherwise missed it.

One thing we often bat back and forth here is framing suggestions. This is a good opportunity to borrow two pictures from that thread and post them here, both popular ways to frame art.

and

I'll make the argument again that a white mat with off-white/cream frame solution is superior as it brings the art to the fore not the surrounding materials, gently blending all that into the wall.

As nice as that Avengers cover is (anybody want to disagree?) the heavy black surround really deadens the presentation, especially when directly compared to the Ant Man splash.

Two things--I have no strong preference regarding black mats versus white mats as I think they can both work well in focus and presentation.  Second, you have to be careful about the COLOR of the white mat (and to some extent, black mats too).  Not all white is the same, some are warm and some are cool, some are bright and some are muted.  They need to be matched carefully with the art itself or it will clash.  That is a bigger consideration to me than white or black mats in general in showing off your art.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by stinkininkin

[Pete Marino]

I have been checking out pictures from this on Instagram as well, they have some amazing stuff there.  beyond comic art.

[aardvark88]

2 hours ago, Mr. Machismo said:

Amazing. Thx.

I will be driving down from Canada to Seattle Friday to touch the frame holding the Ditko AF #15 OA page and try not to set off the alarm.

[comiconxion]

Having been one of the lenders for this show and attended the opening, let me share a few thoughts:

1) The presentation of the props alongside, key artwork, photo ops, and digital displays set a new bar for presentation of this type of material.  Props and art shared equal billing in telling the history of what this generation knows as the Marvel Universe and by including both, it made for a display that appealed to the casual movie goer as well as the die hard fans.  The digital aspect of the show souldn't be overlooked either.  I especially enjoyed the Ant Man display which had a life-like animated Ant-Man running around a real-life diorama performing different stunts.  It gave you the perspective of what Ant-Man would like in the real world.  See pic below.

2) To make this show happen it relied heavily on some key lenders.  I want to thank David Mandel, Eric Roberts and Jim Halperin for loaning key pieces from their collection.  Without their generosity, this show wouldn't have been as great as it is.  It also made me think that museums like MoPOP, Lucas' museum, and Marvel itself really need to think about assembling collections of art for themselves so that they're not so reliant on collectors in the future in order to host shows like this.  

3) My favorite moment at the opening was when I was standing next to one of the pieces I leant for the exhibit - the 1978 Byrne Calendar piece.  A couple collectors were intently studying it trying to identify all 60 characters that make up the piece.  Both were getting stuck on one.  I helped them identify the ones that were stumping them.  They asked me if I worked for Marvel.  I said no and explained "this piece was hanging in my bathroom for the last few years, but decided it should be seen by other people and leant it to the exhibit." Their faces lit up and they gave me big handshakes - I was never prouder to give back to the comic art community through this exhibit.  My hope is that this exhibit touches and inspires thousands of people and is remembered for years to come.  I'm glad I could do my small part to make it happen.  

I've included a few more pics below from my trip.  Enjoy!

 

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by comiconxion

[williamhlawson]

Just wow.  Seriously, just called my friend who lives in Seatlle and asked if he was up for a visit.  This is a must it would seem, cross country be damned.

[John E.]

Quote

I helped them identify the ones that were stumping them.  They asked me if I worked for Marvel.  I said no and explained "this piece was hanging in my bathroom for the last few years,

Chuck, I think you just had your "Bruce Wayne" moment.

 

[comiconxion]

33 minutes ago, Jay Olie Espy said:

Chuck, I think you just had your "Bruce Wayne" moment.

 

If only I had as much room in my house as Bruce Wayne... then I wouldn't need to lend my pieces out to a museum... I'd have my own museum!

But, yeah, I see the similarity.

[cstojano]

15 hours ago, vodou said:

Very nice OP, thanks for linking to this. I would have otherwise missed it.

One thing we often bat back and forth here is framing suggestions. This is a good opportunity to borrow two pictures from that thread and post them here, both popular ways to frame art.

and

I'll make the argument again that a white mat with off-white/cream frame solution is superior as it brings the art to the fore not the surrounding materials, gently blending all that into the wall.

As nice as that Avengers cover is (anybody want to disagree?) the heavy black surround really deadens the presentation, especially when directly compared to the Ant Man splash.

No question for me the white is superior and I think the Hulk 344 cover is absolutely perfect in execution. This style of framing displays the art as an object in its entirety IMO. What is displayed is the physical piece of paper and you wouldn't really have to explain to a curious observer what is being displayed. Close mats focus on the artwork alone and not the actual thing, which kind of misses the point of OA I think. It is less obvious what is on the wall. The tight black mats are not working for me in most of these images. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by cstojano

[John E.]

1 hour ago, comiconxion said:

If only I had as much room in my house as Bruce Wayne... then I wouldn't need to lend my pieces out to a museum... I'd have my own museum!

But, yeah, I see the similarity.

And of course, when I read your anecdote, the first thing that popped into my was:

"What's that?"

"It's Japanese."

"How do you know?"

"I bought it in Japan."

So disregard that whole "Bruce Vain" thing at the end of the clip! 

[Dick O.]

9 hours ago, comiconxion said:

Having been one of the lenders for this show and attended the opening, let me share a few thoughts:

1) The presentation of the props alongside, key artwork, photo ops, and digital displays set a new bar for presentation of this type of material.  Props and art shared equal billing in telling the history of what this generation knows as the Marvel Universe and by including both, it made for a display that appealed to the casual movie goer as well as the die hard fans. 

2) It also made me think that museums like MoPOP, Lucas' museum, and Marvel itself really need to think about assembling collections of art for themselves so that they're not so reliant on collectors in the future in order to host shows like this.  

Thanks for contributing to this wonderful initiative @comiconxion It really looks like a must-visit for superhero art/comics/movie fans around the world! Are there any plans to take this exhibition to the east coast or other countries?

1) Totally agree about the mix of material and presentation techniques being the way forward in terms of widespread audience appeal.

2) Aside from the Lucas Museum, are any other institutions acquiring American comics OA?

 

[aardvark88]

On 4/27/2018 at 12:19 AM, O. said:

Thanks for contributing to this wonderful initiative @comiconxion It really looks like a must-visit for superhero art/comics/movie fans around the world!

1) Totally agree about the mix of material and presentation techniques being the way forward in terms of widespread audience appeal.

 

 

MoPop had interactive displays set up where one could pretend to be Tony Stark trying on the Iron Man armor for the 1st time. Also had touch screens to remove the inks by Sinnott or Royer over Kirby to show the potential all Kirby OA pencils underneath.

I was most impressed by Colan's pencil work on the background of Iron Man 1 cover as you can't see them much on the printed deep purple cover:

[aardvark88]

Parking was $13. Will take 1.5 to 2 hr to walk thru entire museum including Star Trek tv, movies, Lord of Rings, Terminator, Chucky horror, Aliens props, etc. Plus guitars, rock n roll and Jimi Hendrix collectibles:

[aardvark88]

Tremendous generosity of Dave Mandel, Eric Roberts, Halperin and Comics Connection to lend PRIME OA to Seattle exhibit:

[delekkerste]

2 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

Tremendous generosity of Dave Mandel, Eric Roberts, Halperin and Comics Connection to lend PRIME OA to Seattle exhibit:

 

"With great art comes great responsibility." - Gene P.