I was fortunate enough to travel to Los Angeles on the weekend of the 26th of September. Not only was I able to reconnect with some old friends, I had a chance to visit the newly opened Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Picture above is myself in orange with my friends, in front of a statue of Princess Leia choking Jabba the Hutt, a statue that has renewed relevance with the horrible news of sexual assault coming out of Cornell University.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is a place for art not traditionally housed in art museums, whether it be storyboards, comic pages, illustration or science fiction art. This art is typically considered more “commercial” or “low-brow”, but the Lucas museum aims to challenge these assumptions and present the work on terms that validate and celebrate it.
One of my favorite pieces of the Norman Rockwell collection, of which there are a lot, is the self portrait of Norman, where he makes himself look more handsome in his portrait than he appears in the mirror. This is a wonderful piece on its own merit, but it is also juxtaposed right next to a work of Mad magazine’s Alfred E. Nuemann, hilariously mocking the Rockwell piece.
Another notable number of pieces come from fellow Pratt Institute graduate, Kadir Nelson, who painted this wonderful picture of boys playing stickball in Brooklyn. He has a vibrant color palette, and a command of atmosphere that is electric.
I took several photos of all sorts of work, work from Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Frank Miller, H.R. Giger and more, but if I were to share all the pictures this post would be way too long. My only advice would be to go visit it for yourself if you have the chance!!!
Not only is it a great collection of interesting work, it has an amazing sense of layout and architecture that makes it feel like a spaceship. I left inspired and ready to make more artwork.
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