Posted in: Comics, NYCC | Tagged: comic con, Comics, entertainment, new york, NYCC

NYCC '15: Pardon My Kandor

Chuck Brouillette writes,

It was a beautiful autumn day in New York and I'd heard Friday may be gray and a much better day to be indoors and crawling the convention floor so I decided to play hookie on Krypton. Or at least amid a multitude of Kandors.

Since the approach of the turn of the century, (I love being able to say that with experience, and the forward-future perspective of that phrase is fitting considering the subject matter) I'd begun hearing of an artist named Mike Kelly. Small pieces in art reviews and major city newspapers. But what stuck me was his subject matter. He had begun creating a series of graphic images, and sculpted models, of The Bottle city of Kandor from Superman mythology.

Ambitious stuff. The visual of that comic-classic fated city stands iconic in a way that few other concepts introduced over the decades in four color funny books, have. But like many developing artists, and spectator's awareness of them, my impressions of his work was often brief and infrequently made public in a way that I was aware.

Then came Bonn. In 1999, Kunstmuseum in Bonn, Germany mounted an exhibit of his work. And in 2007, Joblonka Galleries in Berlin, Germany hosted a follow-up show the provided the ambitious, Kelly the opportunity to debut 3D models of Krypton's current refugee capital.

So, again, pardon my Kandor, but I was over the moon, and the domed city, to be made aware that Mike Kelly: Kandors would be on exhibit in New York City during NYCC 2015 at Hauser & Wirth galleries on West 18th Street.

It's a spectacle to behold.

In a pitch dark room, a series of primary, gem-colored mini-metropolises, illuminated from below, greet you upon entry.

Next you'll approach a pair of live action & illustrated wall projections of the concept, joined by a working 3' (oxygen pump attached!) city model.

Next is a wall of 8 reimagined 'found images' from DC Comic Superman comics, projected as lenticulars (look kids, 90's comics!) on glass. I was a bit blindsided to find in this series, an image from a SUPERMAN FAMILY comic page, illustrated by German (!) American artist, Kurt Schaffenberger, that I'd purchased from Mr. Schaffenberger and used as a template in a series of images I'd created this past Spring in honor of DC Comics' cross-country move titled CONVERGENCE.

And there are 8 pieces in that series, focusing on the adversarial aspect of 'domed cities' forced into conflict with one another. Ask a DC Comics editor about that one.

They're currently based in Burbank. But it would be way cooler if it were Bonn or Berlin.

But back to the exhibit, in the final display, mounted in a cavernous environ that would put Lost in Space's 60's teleplay set to shame, (and you must wear booties!) the final, grand, glass-enclosed Kandor. Spectacular stuff.

I recommend to all of you that are interested to take the opportunity to see the exhibit before it closes on October 24th

Chuck Brouillette is an artist and writer living in Saratoga Springs, NY. And you can view how he does both @ChuckBrouilette/Twitter

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