Giant Robot's GR2 Gallery is a beloved staple of avant-garde cartoon culture in L.A., combining art, publications and events into a sort of vortex where retro-futuristic, plastic and nostalgic, Asian-influenced and expressively fine-art smart sets of visual culture meet and mesh. Its latest exhibition is “Facial Recognition,” in which three artists — James Kochalka, Matt Furie and Mark Todd — join forces to show off their achievements in painting, illustration, indie publishing and the expanding universe of alt-comics. Matt Furie makes graphically crisp, chromatically vibrating images that feature original yet familiar-seeming characters and creatures in hilarious and vaguely threatening congress. Kochalka is the cartoonist laureate (yes, that is a real thing) of his home state of Vermont, and his comic book art and sometime rock musicianship are known for their cheeky melding of puckish humor and whimsically realistic style. Todd is perhaps the most overt in referencing classic comic lore in his contemporary illustration, even as he breaks down the visual components into a deconstructed homage. Each man also will show new and classic selections of their comics, chaps and editions — a cross-platform formula that's something of a Giant Robot specialty.

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: April 6. Continues through April 24, 2013

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