Story telling using sequential
images has long been a valuable means for exercising one’s freedom of social
expression, and many believes this form of expression has been an important part of Western culture. While many would associate these strips of images with
popular culture, a new extensive exhibition in London will shed valuable light
on this unique art form, while highlighting the creative British talents who
produce them.
The British Library has a vast reserve
of comic book art and in sharing their collection with the public, and putting more than 200 exhibits on display the Library has billed
this exhibition as UK’s biggest of its kind to date.
On show are engravings,
magazines and books, alongside developments in digital, multimedia and installation
forms and the rich cross-pollination with the big and small screen. The exhibition also reveals the alchemic art
of combining words and images with displays of early sketches and scripts
through to finished full-size original artwork, including specially
commissioned work by comics artists Jamie Hewlett and the exhibition’s artistic
director Dave McKean.
The show was curated by comic creator John Harris Dunning
and leading UK expert Paul Gravett, working with Adrian Edwards, the British
Library’s Head of Printed Historical Sources.
While comics provide entertainment, the curators acknowledged that comics have broken boundaries over centuries and
the exhibition explores many comics and
graphic novels which unflinchingly address issues around themes such as politics,
sex, violence, race and drugs, but also the inspiration and context behind
them. A special section on sex is also
included but this area is designed in such a way that visitors, especially
those with children, can bypass it if so desired.
The exhibition looks
at intriguing historical figures, from 19th century occultist, magician and
writer Aleister Crowley, whose original tarot card painting of ‘The Universe’,
on loan from The Warburg Institute, is on display in the UK for the first time
since its initial presentation in the 1930s, to H P Lovecraft to Punch and
Judy.
Highlights of the exhibition
also include an example of a medieval ‘comic’ from 1470, Apocalypse, a
ventriloquist dummy of Ally Sloper, one of the earliest comic strip characters,
70’s underground comics tried at court for obscenity, such as Oz which is
accompanied by a previously unheard recording of the Oz trial itself, as well
as 21st century material, including original artwork and manuscripts of the
likes of Kick-Ass, Sandman and Batman and Robin, and Keaton Henson’s 2012
doll’s house installation, Gloaming, adapted specially for the show.
With an aim to open the
exhibition to a wider audience, the Library has recorded a day in the life of
four important comic book artists as they work in their studios, including
Isabel Greenberg and Posy Simmonds, which appear as life size projections in
the show, according to curators John Harris Dunning and Paul Gravett.
John Harris Dunning, co-curator
of the show, says: “We hope that this show will stimulate creative disobedience
and throw down the gauntlet to young creators – as well as show audiences, who
perhaps have not read comics before, what a diverse and exciting medium they
are. The demystification of the process of creating comics is a key part of
this exhibition, with once in a lifetime opportunities to see original artwork
and scripts from comics greats.”
Dave McKean, the artist behind
Batman: Arkham Asylum, is just one example of the many British comic creators
championed in the exhibition. Showing how British artists and writers have had
a huge impact on the industry, Comics Unmasked includes personal loans of
original scripts and artwork for British triumphs, including Watchmen, V for
Vendetta, Tank Girl, Sandman, as well as examples of how British comic creators
have subverted typically American super heroes, like Batman and Superman, and
of course politicians and public figures. Strategically placed around the exhibition are mysterious-looking mannequins wearing street clothes and V for Vendetta masks.
John Harris Dunning, co-curator
of the show, says: “We hope that this show will stimulate creative disobedience
and throw down the gauntlet to young creators – as well as show audiences, who
perhaps have not read comics before, what a diverse and exciting medium they
are. The demystification of the process of creating comics is a key part of
this exhibition, with once in a lifetime opportunities to see original artwork
and scripts from comics greats.”
Adrian Edwards, Head of Printed
Historical Sources at the British Library, says: “We’re delighted to be
celebrating the tradition of British comics with this landmark exhibition. Few
realise how far back the form goes and the Library’s collections are
unrivalled.”
Paul Gravett, co-curator of the
show, says: “Much more than childhood nostalgia, comics are a powerful adult
medium which can reflect and impact on society and change's people minds and
lives. From the very start, comics have been cross-pollinating with movies,
music, theatre and all the other media and today are on the cutting-edge of
digital storytelling and multi-media installation art.”
At a time when digital comics
have never been more popular the Library has worked with webcomic pioneer,
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, and digital graphic novel company Sequential to display
digital comics and graphic novels around the exhibition, allowing visitors to
explore the content further and see the culture shift in the industry.
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