COLUMBUS, OH.- Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond, the first museum exhibition of work by the influential, Columbus-based comic book artist and writer—best known for his epic graphic novel Bone—will be on view through August 3, 2008 at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

The exhibition—a partnership between the Wexner Center and The Ohio State University's Cartoon Research Library, collaborating for the first time on an exhibition—will include about 80 original drawings: primarily original black-and-white pages from Bone, with a smaller selection of full-color Bone covers and post-Bone work, including original drawings from Smith's recent Shazam series for DC Comics and from Rasl, a story about a time-travelling art thief. Smith will also be creating an installation on the wall of the lower lobby of the Wexner Center.
The exhibition includes a selection of original comics whose artists Smith cites as direct influences, among them examples from Walt Kelly's Pogo, Carl Barks’s Uncle Scrooge, Will Eisner's The Spirit, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, and E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre.

A related show called Jeff Smith: Before Bone—which features a selection of Smith’s pre-Bone work, including pieces he created for The Ohio State University’s campus newspaper The Lantern—will be on view nearby in Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library.

Bone and Beyond is organized by David Filipi, the Wexner Center's curator of film and video, and Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library.

“Graphic storytelling is enjoying a level of critical and cultural currency as never before,” Filipi says. “This truly is a golden age for the medium, and we are excited to be presenting the first solo gallery exhibition of one of the great artists of his time. As both a writer and artist, Jeff has created an unparalleled body of work and, with Bone, a work that transcends age and will be read for generations. We’re also thrilled to be collaborating in a significant way with the Cartoon Research Library.”

Notes Caswell, “Bone and Beyond is a celebration of the work of this important artist and writer. Jeff’s achievement with Bone is monumental, and this exhibition offers a look at this artist at the height of his creative power.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring an introduction by Caswell, and essays by Filipi, Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, and cartoonist and scholar Scott McCloud. It will also include an interview with Smith conducted by Filipi and Caswell.