Do you recall your parents hauling you through drab old museums? Bleugh! Prepare for your favourite Beano characters to cause a stir this autumn as we commemorate their spirit of defiance with a huge new exhibition.

Explore how this beloved British comics legend has inspired succeeding generations to defy the rules, while discovering artists who push limits in their own unique and fascinating ways, by stepping into the pages of the comic and taking a trip to Beanotown.

Face-to-face encounters with the Beano gang, including Dennis and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, Bananaman, and the Bash Street Kids, are possible thanks to genuine comic artwork and incredible treasures plucked from the Beano’s vault.

Andy Holden, an artist and lifetime Beano enthusiast, has gathered today’s greatest creative rule-breakers, including writers, singers, painters, sculptors, and photographers, for this show. Contributors include Sarah Lucas, Hardeep Pandhal, Phyllida Barlow, Chris Sievey (as Frank Sidebottom), Martin Creed, Alex Chinneck, Heather Phillipson, Ryan Gander, Jann Haworth, Emma Hart, editorial cartoonist Martin Rowson, Rene Mati, Bedwyr Williams, and many more. A recording by teenage fiction writer Alex Wheatle, a comic strip by artist Nicola Lane, and a neon sculpture by Simeon Barclay are among the new creations.

Whether you want to be inspired by brave artistic mavericks, relive a beloved childhood comic masterpiece, or explore the Beano’s larger-than-life characters with your own little rebels, this exhibition will prove that breaking the rules has no age limit.