No Particular Order: Illustrations by Anuj Shrestha

Arcadia Exhibitions is pleased to present “No Particular Order: Illustrations by Anuj Shrestha” from November 18, 2024 – October 19, 2025 in the Harrison Gallery, University Commons.

Though widely recognized for his compelling commercial illustrations in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, ProPublica, and Wired, “No Particular Order” focuses on Shrestha’s personal creative output.

In Shrestha’s illustrations the viewer is confronted by volatile and divisive subjects, such as urban warfare, terrorism, displacement, racism, and xenophobia. Through his use of simple shapes, clean lines, a sparse, sometimes monochromatic palette, and subtle juxtapositions, Shrestha depicts these topics with a kind of subdued, almost mundane stillness. In this way he provides viewers with an opportunity to consider something dark and horrific in a manner that provides a psychological space for contemplation and dialogue.

Curated by Matthew Borgen with assistance from Willow Edmonds ’26, the exhibition features prints from several of the artist’s most recent illustration series and comics. Included in the show are selections from Studies, a collection of 2 panel comics relating visual and conceptual symmetry. Prologue / Epilogue, a series depicting the rubble of bombed out buildings, reflects on themes of destruction and regeneration. The exhibition will also include images taken from Shrestha’s 2018 comic National Bird which explores the presence of surveillance in a “free” society.

Please return to this site for further information on upcoming events related to the exhibition.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Anuj Shrestha is an illustrator and cartoonist currently residing in Philadelphia after having lived in nearly all four corners of the United States. His illustration work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, ProPublica, Wired and Playboy, among others and has been featured in the Society of Illustrators and American Illustration annuals. He has won two gold medals for his comics from the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art Festival Awards of Excellence and a gold medal from The Society of Illustrators.