At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic Exhibition

-By John Jude Palencar

Just when you thought it was safe to relax after the awesome Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event. Our sincerest gratitude goes out to Arnie and Cathy Fenner and their crew... those folks in Kansas City really know how to put on wonderful event!



Well... put your boots back on and head over to the Allentown Art Museum for Pat and Jeannie Wilshire’s brainchild exhibition....



The Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley is pleased to showcase an exhibition that will introduce contemporary fantastic art to the museum setting. “At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic“ will not only be the most comprehensive exhibition of fantastic art to date, it will also be the first time that this discipline has been presented on such a large scale. Sometimes labeled as science fiction or fantasy art, such imaginative realism distinguishes itself from other forms by portraying ancient myths and legends, modern day fantasies in the form of divine interventions, the imagination, the dream state, the grotesque visions and the uncanny as common objects.



Fantastic art is not a new invention. According to the exhibition’s guest curators, Patrick and Jeannie Wilshire, fantastic art has been around since man has “been able to make meaningful marks on permanent materials.” They go on to say that, “Ancient artwork is rife with narrative depictions of gods, monsters, shining deeds and things crawling from dark shadows.”



While the widespread prevalence of fantastic themes in popular culture is relatively recent, most historians date the inception of today’s contemporary fantastic art to that of the Romanticism movement in the second half of the 18th century. The parameters of fantastic art were further defined throughout the 19th century, featuring prominently in the pre-Raphaelite and Academic movements. Fantastic art flowered during the Golden Age of Illustration in the early 20th century, but then became more marginalized and self-referential through the mid-20th century. Since the 1970s, fantastic art has enjoyed a renaissance as contemporary artists have rediscovered and reconnected to the works of their forebearers.



From Patrick Wilshire - “How about a few of the highlights?” (Partial list of artist's work that will appear in the exhibition.)



William Blake

Gustave Dore

Edmund Blair Leighton

Howard Pyle

N.C. Wyeth

Arthur Rackham

Edmund Dulac

Frank Schoonover

J.C. Leyendecker

Dean Cornwell

J.C. Coll

Franklin Booth

J. Allen St. John

Chesley Bonestell

Virgil Finlay

Frank Kelly Freas

John Schoenherr

Roy Krenkel

Frank Frazetta

Michael Whelan

Boris Vallejo

Manuel Sanjulian

Rowena Morrill

Roger Dean

Rodney Matthews

H.R. Giger

Bernie Wrightson

Michael William Kaluta

Barry Windsor-Smith

Brian Froud

Brom

James Gurney

John Jude Palencar

Julie Bell

Donato Giancola

Greg Manchess

Jon Foster

Eric Fortune

Phil Hale

Rick Berry

Justin Sweet

Thomas Blackshear

and many others..



Pat Wilshire goes on to say “Again, 140 artists - roughly 45 of them pre-date 1940, so a major batch of Golden Age goodness.”



Location:

Allentown Art Museum,

31 North Fifth Street

Allentown, PA 18101

610.432.4333



Exhibition Dates:

Sunday, June 3, 2012 - Sunday September 9, 2012

Scheller Gallery, Rodale Gallery, Fowler Gallery



Opening Preview Party: Saturday June 2, 2012

Tickets for the Preview Party: HERE!



Allentown Art Museum Link: HERE

Exhibition link: HERE



Here are a few paintings that will appear in the exhibition...

 Wyeth

 Rackham

Hildebrandt

Blackshear

Dore

Dulac