Sam Kieth

Sam Kieth
Samplings and Dabblings: A Retrospective
Cartoon Art Museum
March 1 – June 16, 2013

The Cartoon Art Museum presents Samplings and Dabblings: a retrospective, a celebration of the art of Sam Kieth. This exhibition traces Kieth’s career from 1988, when he collaborated with writer Neil Gaiman to produced the first issues of the acclaimed Sandman comic book series through his fan favorite run drawing Wolverine for Marvel Comics Presents and other early works. In 1993, Kieth published perhaps his best known character, The Maxx, through Image Comics, in a series that spawned an animated spin-off on MTV’s Oddities. The ever-experimental artist produced additional creator-owned works for publishers including WildStorm and Oni, and his most recent comics work including The Hollows and Mars Attacks! is available from IDW Publishing.

In addition to his well known (and occasionally not well known) comics work, Samplings and Dabblings also examines the paintings, comics and sculpture that comprise Kieth’s ongoing “Trout-a-verse” project.

“In the same way, in all my stories, I’m trying to have compassion for these characters who’ve been through hell, or who’ve put themselves through hell, and are, in some way, all alter egos for me. So whether work-for-hire or creator owned, the themes are all continuous in my work. Some of the characters are owned by evil conglomerates, others are just waiting to be picked off by evil conglomerates, and some of them are so weird that no evil conglomerate wants to touch them with a stick…but they’re all part of one, giant ‘Sam-story.’”