In today’s world of digital animation and electronic everything, it’s easy to forget that what computers now do through programming, skilled cartoon artists used to do by hand. But before you’re fooled into thinking screens and keyboards have forever replaced paper and paint, head to the American Swedish Institute to check out the work of Jesper Löfvenborg.
The Swedish artist and cartoonist fills his work with bright colors, countless details, and his signature character: a crocodile. Each piece also includes hidden references to Swedish traditions and figures. His exhibit at ASI includes more than 40 paintings and cartoons as well as a skateboard bearing Löfvenborg’s custom design. (In addition to his work as a comic strip artist, he has designed skateboard and T-shirt graphics for a Swedish skateboard company.) A great example of how ASI exhibits focus on the present and future as well as the past, Löfvenborg’s work melds together different eras, genres, and generations using bold acrylic paints and even bolder subject matter.
March 8—April 29, 2011
$6
American Swedish Institute
2600 Park Ave. S., Mpls.
americanswedishinst.org
