John Wayne Airport hosts exhibit elevating illustrative arts

John Wayne Airport is hosting a new exhibition titled "Main Character Energy," which aims to elevate illustrative arts to the status of fine art. The exhibition challenges the traditional exclusion of illustration, digital art, comic books, and zines from galleries and museums by celebrating these often underrated styles.

The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, and a series of zines created by the participating artists. Zines are small, self-published booklets that contain original or appropriated artwork and text. They are made through drawing, cutting, pasting, stapling, and stickering an original booklet before being photocopied in limited editions for hand distribution. This form of creation allows artists to explore their creativity freely.

Heather Bowling, the curator at John Wayne Airport, expressed her hopes for the exhibit: “My hope is that viewers of all ages will connect with the artwork and characters on view and will perhaps leave feeling inspired to try making a zine of their own.”