The opening night reception for the BLAB! art retrospective in NYC is Friday, March 26th, 6-9 PM. There will be 100 pieces in the show!
The Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators presents “BLAB!: A Retrospective,” a periodic anthology of works from leading contemporary illustrators, painters, sequential artists and printmakers worldwide. Founded by acclaimed Chicago-based graphic designer and art director Monte Beauchamp in 1986, BLAB! invites more than twenty-five visual artists each year from the fields of sequential art, graphic design, illustration, painting, and printmaking to contribute to BLAB!, a selection informed by Beauchamp’s distinctive vision and aesthetic. The anthology will be on display March 24-May 1, 2010 in the museum’s galleries in New York City’s Upper East Side.
From its roots as an exposition of comic illustration, the original BLAB! anthology format has evolved and diversified, with recent editions incorporating the work and vision of renowned illustrators and artists including Chris Ware, Gary Baseman, Sue Coe, Camille Rose Garcia, The Clayton Brothers, Owen Smith, SHAG!, Joe Sorren, Ron English, and Mark Ryden. BLAB! also features selections of vintage “found” graphics, such as Depression-era matchbook covers, obscure Valmor cosmetic labels and pre-1920 European Krampus postcards.