Kapow! Celebrating Barnsley’s Comic Book Heroes
30th May 2019
This month saw the launch of The Cooper Gallery’s Kapow! exhibition, a celebration of the artwork and artists behind some of our best-loved comic book superheroes, including talent born and bred in Barnsley.
Dean Ormston and Fiona Stephenson are both renowned on an international scale for their artistic talents. The Kapow! exhibition showcases a collection of their work, allowing visitors to see the process of creating comic book art, from scripting and initial sketches through to finalised print.
As an award-winning artist, Dean has worked on well-known characters including Judge Dredd, Lucifer and Superman. He is also the lead artist and co-creator of Black Hammer. In her early career, Fiona worked on comic book lettering for judge Dredd 2000A.D and Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000, before moving on to colouring work for D.C Comics.
Alongside their work, there is a display of original art from the 1940’s to present day including Batman, Superman, Tank Girl, Hellblazer and many more. The exhibition also tells the story of some of the best loved comic book superheroes and how they moved onto the big screen.
The Cooper Gallery is one of the sites supported by the Barnsley Museum and Heritage Trust. As Barnsley natives, the artists have generously donated a number of items which can be purchased at the gallery, with proceeds raised going to Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust:
- A2 exhibitions posters signed by Dean Ormston = £10
- Limited edition Black Hammer badges = £15 each
- Black Hammer Directors Cut comic book = £5
- Kapow! Activity packs = £1 each
- Copies of Black Hammer at £35 each, with £22 of each sale donated to the BMHT.
They have also donated a signed book which brought in £200 as part of a raffle prize draw.
It’s thanks to the generous donations and loyal supporters of BMHT that we can continue to keep Barnsley’s museums alive and help them celebrate the rich culture of Barnsley and its past.
Kapow! runs from 18th May to 31st August and is free to attend with donations welcome. For more information on this and upcoming exhibitions at The Cooper Gallery, visit http://www.cooper-gallery.com/
