Phantom art exhibitions seem to be all the rage these days.
We all know of the Tour that Never seems to End downunder, The Phantom Art Show co-curated by Peter Kingston and Dietmar Lederwasch, which recently opened and is currently showing at the Manly Art Gallery in Sydney after a near-three year run around Australia.
Then of course, there has been Swede Martin Dahlström’s homage to Wilson McCoy, the Godfather of Pop display, which we have also reported on extensively here on ChronicleChamber.
And now there is a new exhibition, opening soon in Sweden, focusing on original art and including the amazing private collection of Sinisha Bozunovic. The Originalteckningar (Original drawings) collection will go on display at Sinisha's gallery, Gallery Stromstad & Tanum.
ChronicleChamber has been in regular contact with Sinisha as he outlays his vision for not just his art gallery but to completely take over his town with phandom and ensure he evangelises our hero to the next and new generation. Give this man a Good Mark!
And while you are at it Phantom, give Peter, Dietmar and Martin one as well…
The festival starts on the 23rd September and is open through to the 7th of December 2017. Plenty of time for people to organise a trip there and sell it to families as an opportunity for a White Christmas! Tell your travel agent that the exhibition will be in Strömstad, Sweden (on the West coast, between Oslo and Gothenburg).
The exhibition will feature original art from iconic Phantom artists, including the great newspaper artists Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy and Sy Barry, as well as legendary Egmont cover artists Rolf Gohs, Sal Velluto and Kari Lappanen, just to name a few. Indeed, Sal has even sent in his own video welcoming visitors to the event!
There are not many well known popular Phantom artists left - this is all from Sinisha’s private collection along with his own art featuring our hero.
The amount of original Phantom art on display, all of which has been published in newspapers and comics, is growing every day as phans around the world add their own contributions. As it stands, there are over 130 pieces ready for display.
One interesting part of his collection is the large number of original art covers from the Swedish Christmas Albums which has been loaned from Hans-Erik Hansson, covering 1944 to 2016.
The guest list lined up for the opening is also seriously impressive with Ulf Granberg, Sture Hegerfors, Pidde Andersson, Erik Wonde, Hans-Erik Hansson, Thomas Hultbrand and of course, The Phantom himself!
Ulf Granberg will be a popular guest, as he has been a director of The Phantom in Sweden (Semic & Egmont) and has also written stories for 40 years, including many Phantom stories. He will have a pre-release (preview) of his new book focusing on Rolf Gohs’ work on The Phantom in Sweden. More information on this will be available here on ChronicleChamber when it is released.
Sture Hegerfors is one of biggest experts in Sweden in the field of comics, and will be there for the opening of the festival.
Pidde Andersson is a name Australians may be vaguely aware of at the moment but they will soon come to know very well, as he is in the middle of writing Phantom stories soon to be released by Frew Publications. Again, more information on these, as well as an interview with Pidde, will be on ChronicleChamber soon.
Hans-Erik Hansson and Erik Wonde have arguably the biggest collections of Phantom original art in the world. They have loaned countless amounts of art to Sinisha’s exhibition and will be there for the opening to share their stories about dealing with the countless Phantom artists they have met and are now lucky enough to call friends.
As mentioned above the Phantom will also be making an appearance with two body builders donning the outfit and so the Phantom won't be lonely, he will be joined by Diana and two horses who will be able to keep the children entertained.
Unfortunately for completist collectors, there is no merchandise to be bought or sold during the event. However there will be a special 1m x 1m canvas painting of a Gohs cover lottery price done by Sinisha himself.
One item that will be available to purchase is the ‘Phantom underwear’ line released by Alexander Cobb especially for this exhibition. It will be available to purchase online - the link for this will be published on ChronicleChamber as soon as it is live.
The event has received loads of support and excitement through Strömstad, and Sinisha has worked hard to get the media on board with a front page dedicated to the art gallery and also a radio interview. The way the town has embraced the concept is what has us excited, with public art slated for display throughout the town’s public spaces and restaurants. In fact, some restaurants are actually cooking and creating Phantom themed meals.
One such Phantom flavoured item is the special Phantom Jungle Tea blend that has been made just for this exhibition. We have been told by the local tasters it has a heavenly fragrance.
Adding to the festival feel and in another demonstration of the way the township of Strömstadhas embraced the festival, Sinisha confirms that "the local Cinema is collecting Phantom movies to show every Sunday at 15:00, during whole 10 weeks!"
Other phun activities are planned as well, including a Phantom Treasure Map where visitors track down the art through the town, collecting stamps as they go. Complete it and you will be awarded a special prize donated by the curator of this fabulous exhibition.
There is no doubt from all the news released that this will be a very special occasion that all Phantom phans would love to be a part of.
To stay in touch with news about the exhibition, register your interest by accessing the Facebook event here.
The team here at ChronicleChamber would encourage anyone: if you can to get to Strömstad to see the show, do it - if only so you can take a heap of photos for us to share!
