Monster bash

Monsters are having a moment. Actually, they’re having a bit of a protracted moment, ever since Pixar’s Monsters Inc thrust them into the limelight in 2001. In the UK, Julia Donaldson’s lovable Gruffalo series continues to delight the kids, Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals are set to wreak monstrous havoc on UK big screens later this year, and the trailer for Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s 1963 children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are has just hit the Internet, to the delight of adults and little ones alike. The illustrators behind the wonderfully varied monster race, meanwhile, are getting their own moment, in a new exhibition opening at the Idea Generation Gallery this week. Monsters Inked includes more than 100 works from the likes of Rob Steen, whose Flanimals illustrations will go on display for the first time, and Tom Jennings, who’s creating a large-scale evolutionary monster family tree. Nine artists from the Central Illustration Agency created pieces for the exhibition, and Pete Fowler, famous for his Super Furry Animals album cover artwork, installed a 75m2 temporary mural featuring characters from his psychedelic world Monsterism Island. ‘It’s often said that the journey is as important as the destination – and that applies equally well to the creative process,’ says Hector Proud, Idea Generation Gallery director. ‘The choice of monsters as a subject flowed from this core idea. After all, the creation and imagination of mortally threatening creatures has to be one of the most fertile areas of human innovation.’ Monsters Inked: Inside the minds of The Gods of Monsters runs from 8 April to 4 May at Idea Generation Gallery, Chance Street, London E2