PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — You don't have to play Dungeons & Dragons or be a “The Lord of the Rings” super fan to find a place in a new exhibit at The Galleries at the Moore College of Art & Design that dives deep into the art of fantasy fiction.
Moore professor and curator Dr. Jonathan Wallis says his career as an art historian has always run parallel to his love of fantasy: “I’m a child of the ’70s and ’80s, and I grew up with the onset of Dungeons & Dragons.”
These days, Wallis says, he still enjoys fantasy books and movies. And the new exhibit he spearheaded at Moore, “Fantasy’s Spell: The Art of Enchantment,” is a yearslong dream come to life.
“It’s really a wonderful opportunity … to bring those two worlds of my personal and professional together.”
The exhibit is finally giving fantasy the respect it deserves in the wider art world, said Lillian Marcoccia, a Moore illustration student.
“I think that a lot of it isn’t necessarily considered fine art by a lot of people, but it definitely is, and I believe it should have its place,” said Marcoccia.
Wallis said that was part of the goal of the exhibit.
“We’re really excited at, not only the range of work in the show, but just the fact that it demonstrates the real rigor and technical skill of people working in fantasy today,” Wallis said.
And it’s a grand production at Moore — with massive maps of fictional continents, paintings of mystical beasts and characters from a host of modern and classic fantasy literature, a station to play the modern classic video game Elden Ring.
The exhibit even features hand-crafted swords and axes inspired by novels and TV series like “Game of Thrones.”
“Everything I do are my own original ideas,” said Shawn Binah, a mathematics professor-turned-bladesmith who came all the way from Minnesota for the exhibit. “I write the story before I make the weapon.”
Anyone who has played Dungeons & Dragons has likely used a map brought to life by Mike Schley, who is also featured in the exhibit.
“They’ve done an absolutely wonderful job — the variety of painted work and printed media, traditional narrative storytelling, cartography, concept art,” Schley said.
And most of those items are paired with the book where the source material is found.
The exhibit has an appeal beyond the old-school lovers of fantasy fiction, Wallis said. There’s something for everyone.
“There’s nostalgia for older people like me, and there’s a lot of very exciting and familiar things for people who are quite young,” he said.
Ren, a Moore student, said fantasy is vital now more than ever.
“I think it’s definitely like, a good way to just tune the world out for five minutes, because seeing how everything’s going, I definitely think it’s good for people to recharge.”
"Fantasy’s Spell" is open until March 15.