August 1 – August 7, 2012
Opening reception: Tuesday, July 31, 6 – 10 pm

THE ART OF WAR
Featuring over 200 works on paper, the event marks the first time an entire graphic novel has been exhibited at a majoy contemporary art institution.

“This installation transforms the book into a new, immersive experience that will reinvent the way people interact with graphic novels,” states White Box founder and artistic director, Juan Puntes.

The graphic novel adapts Sun Tzu’s iconic strategy text into a thriller set in a violent near-future when financial markets are militarized and China is the world’s dominant economy. Written and storyboarded by Kelly Roman and illustrated by Michael DeWeese, the book took six years to create and will be published on July 31 by Harper Perennial, the literary fiction imprint of HarperCollins.

A sample of the work on display can be previewed here

The book has already received outstanding early reviews, including a strong recommendation from Comic Book Resources. Retired US Army General Stephen N. Xenakis calls the book “an astounding adaptation of Sun Tzu’s ancient text” and former Carnegie Endowment senior associate Minxin Pei states that the book should be “required reading for those concerned with the future of America and its place in the world.”

A 50-page sample can be found on the book’s website

White Box will host the opening reception and book launch party on July 31 for fans, bloggers, print journalists and members of the book publishing and art industries. DJ Alex English, the resident DJ at Webster Hall, will provide the music. The event is sponsored by Perrier, produced by Black Mrkt with promotion by Shaw Promotion and is guest curated by Karen Hakimi.

From August 1 – 7, the show will be open to the public everyday from 12pm – 6pm at White Box, located at 329 Broome Street in Manhattan

About Kelly Roman:
Author Kelly Roman learned woodblock printmaking at Deerfield Academy and graduated from Harvard where he studied creative writing with Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Richard Ford. Kelly is a co-owner of Fisher Wallace Laboratories, a progressive medical device company that treats the symptoms of PTSD. THE ART OF WAR is his debut graphic novel.

About Michael DeWeese:
Illustrator Michael DeWeese graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts in 2006. He has worked as a storyboard artist for music video and commercial directors. In 2010 he executed the storyboards for Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video (directed by Steven Klein). Michael likes to bring out the kink in whatever art he’s working on. THE ART OF WAR is also his debut.

About HarperCollins Publishers:
HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation. Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world including the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children’s Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books, children’s books, cookbooks, mystery, romance, reference, religious and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history HarperCollins has published some of the world’s foremost authors and has won numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet consumer demand and generate additional business opportunities. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet