By C. Edwards
The art anthology BLAB! is considered the sourcebook for post-modern art appreciation; consistently showcasing a wide variety of groundbreaking work from the pop-surrealist, outsider and lowbrow art movements. Beginning March 26, the Museum of American Illustration will present BLAB!: A Retrospective at the Society of Illustrators.
BLAB! was founded and curated nearly 25 years ago by Chicago-based art director and graphic designer Monte Beauchamp. It began as a self-published, one-shot fanzine dedicated to comic illustrations.
“It brought in over 100 fan letters and several extremely favorable reviews, which I never anticipated,” said Beauchamp. “A follow-up issue wasn’t planned, but the gracious response to the first issue is what spurred me on to attempt another.”
Its evolution into an acclaimed venue for the contemporary visual arts is due to the careful selection of particular styles from a wide variety of sequential artists, illustrators, painters and printmakers. “I’m always on the lookout for artists mining artistic veins we haven’t already tapped into. One that doesn’t encroach on styles by BLAB! artists such as Sue Coe, Greg Clarke, Gary Baseman, Ryan Heshka and Nora Krug, for example. Two such recent talents I’m particularly proud of are C.J. Pyle and Kari Laine McCluskey, who have work in this current exhibit.”
The BLAB! retrospectives, which are treated the same as the anthologies, started back in 2005. “I don’t view it as either a book or a magazine, but as an orchestrated, organic process,” explained Beauchamp. The event was such a success that they’ve been having annual gallery shows at Bergamot Station in Los Angeles, “but I must confess, this exhibit at The Society of Illustrators is the one I’m particularly proud of. Back when I worked as an art director in advertising, I had an immense awe and respect for the institution and to have them offer BLAB! a retrospective is an unbelievable dream come true.”
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March 26-May 1, Museum of American Illustration, 128 E. 63rd St., 212-838-2560.
