In late February, the first exhibition, Anti-heroes opens. Curated by Craig McClure, the group exhibition features cartoonists from the United States, Canada and New Zealand who resist the archetypical superhero genre of comic books to tell real human stories.
In March, Ahsin Ahsin takes over the atrium, applying his vibrant, graphic, neon work directly onto the walls. Influenced by 80s & 90s sci-fi and pop culture, his work features transformer-style robots and alien invasions.
A Mega World highlight is contemporary artist Gary Baseman, whose exhibition, Imaginary Friends showcases dozens of his dynamic characters. Shifting from a successful career in editorial illustration that started in the 1980s, Baseman started to create his own cast of characters in the 1990s that represent aspects of the human condition. The characters exist as drawings, paintings, toys, fashion, or appear in photographs and video. Demonstrating Baseman’s “pervasive art” that crosses media and disciplines, Imaginary Friends shows his characters manifested in multiple ways, allowing viewers to engage personally and experientially, connecting the characters’ stories with their own.