Beyond Science Fiction

On Saturday, February 11, 2017, the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, California hosts the premiere of “Beyond Science Fiction,” a world class exhibition of major art works by artist Michael Whelan. The interactive show transports the viewer to distant worlds and alternate realities, both familiar and fantastic.

Whelan is one of the world’s premier painters of imaginative realism. For 40 years, he has created book and album covers for authors and musicians like Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Anne MacCaffrey, Robert Heinlein, Melanie Rawn, Michael Moorcock, the Jacksons, and Meatloaf. His clients have included every major U.S. book publisher, CBS Records, the Franklin Mint, and many more.

As the most honored artist in Science Fiction, Whelan has won an unprecedented 15 Hugo Awards, three World Fantasy Awards, and 13 Chesleys from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. The readers of Locus Magazine have named him Best Professional Artist 30 times in their annual poll and the Spectrum Annual of the Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art named him a Grand Master in 2004. Other noteworthy awards include a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, a Grumbacher Gold Medal, and the Solstice Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America.

In 2009, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which includes such luminaries as H.G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, Gene Roddenbury, H.R. Giger, Octavia E. Butler, and Ursula K. Le Guin.