Super Duper

One of the pivotal scenes of Mason Bates’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay depicts a profound act of creation: the moment when the cousins Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier first concoct the Escapist, the superhero they imagine as an antidote to fascism during World War II. In tribute to this vivid crime fighter who plays such a central role in the Met’s season-opener, an extraordinary array of top contemporary artists has created their own new superheroes for an exhibition of brand-new work.

“In the 1930s, the original superheroes were invented by immigrants, often refugees, who shaped those figures as aspirations for the future. They then became quintessential figures of Americana,” says Gallery Met director Dodie Kazanjian, who conceived the show with philologist Donatien Grau. “Today, the aspiration of these individuals is more important than ever, and this made me wonder what a superhero would look like in this very dark time in our nation’s history. My co-curator Donatien and I have invited 25 contemporary artists to show us.”

Super Duper features new pieces by Joe Bradley, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Chan, Roz Chast, Ian Cheng, George Condo, John Currin, Hadi Falapishi, Rachel Feinstein, Cy Gavin Sally J. Han, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Rashid Johnson, Ella Kruglyanskaya, Eddie Martinez, Anna Park, Nicolas Party, pascALEjandro, Rachel Rose, Julian Schnabel, Dana Schutz, Art Spiegelman, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Anna Weyant. The exhibition runs throughout the Met’s 2025–26 season.

Photography by Tom Powell