PILSEN — It's characters straight out of comic books and pop culture images that defined generations — come to life on canvas.
Mana Contemporary in Pilsen will host a special opening reception for the new exhibit Erro: American Comics from 1-4 p.m. Sunday.
The exhibit features a dozen colorful works from Icelandic artist Erro, known for translating American comic books and pop culture imagery into dizzying large-scale paintings.
The paintings, created over 30 years from 1979 and 2009, represent two recurring themes in the artist's work: his Scapes series, where large canvases are filled with fragments of comic book-inspired imagery, and his superhero-themed sagas, featuring icons like Wonder Woman and Tank Girl replicated ad infinitum.
To make the paintings, Erro first created cut-and-paste collages using images from newspapers, magazines, posters, ads and comic books. The imagery was then painted using acrylics on canvas, resulting in vibrant landscapes, filled with humor, social commentary and samples of contemporary culture.
Like famed American pop artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, the Icelandic Erro was fascinated with pop culture imagery, spurred by a trip to New York in the mid-1960s.
The exhibit is presented in partnership with Austria-based Galerie Ernst Hilger, which operates its U.S. location from Mana Contemporary New Jersey's headquarters.
Mana Contemporary, 2233 S. Throop St., is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.
Want to see more of Erro's work? Click through our slideshow.
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