Dec 4: Illustrator exhibit opens in Rockville

Casey Shaw of USA Weekend reminded me that this exhibit is opening:

-VisArts at Rockville Exhibition: "TURNING THE PAGE: the fine art behind illustrations" and "THE ART OF THE BOOK" ­ December 4, 2008-February 21, 2009

OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, December 4, 6:30-8:30pm
115 Gibbs Street #300
Rockville, Maryland 20850
http://www.visartscenter.org/exhibitions.html

I'm not sure if the opening is open to the public, so check first. This is a really nice space and I'm sure the exhibit will be good.

Oct 23: Politics, etcetera… by Sid Chafetz political woodblock exhibit opens

Stanford in Washington Art Gallery Presents

Politics, etcetera… by Sid Chafetz

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Stanford in Washington Art Gallery is proud to host the new exhibition Politics etcetera... by acclaimed international artist Sid Chafetz. This retrospective includes a variety of portraits, scenes, and political lithographs that comment on national and global events while speaking to the human condition.

Chafetz is considered to be one of the world’s greatest living woodblock artists and has stated that his work utilizes, “…satire to stab at pomposity – whether in my own field of academe or in our political world.” Author and independent curator Allon Schoener remarked that Chafetz’s work, “provokes our social, political, and moral awareness, and forces us to recognize the boundaries of individual responsibility and personal culpability.”

Sid Chafetz began his artistic studies in 1940 at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He was drafted into the army his sophomore year and survived combat in the Battle of the Bulge. Chafetz returned to the United States after World War II, graduated from RISD, and continued with his education in France at the American School at Fontainebleau, the Academy Julian, and with the artist Fernand Leger. Chafetz has been exhibited regularly since 1947 in national and international shows and is currently the emeritus professor of art at Ohio State University where he launched the printmaking program in 1959. His work can be found in private and public collections including the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Dahlem Museum in Berlin, and the Columbus Museum of Art.


The Stanford in Washington Art Gallery
2655 Connecticut Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20008
Metro: Red Line to Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan.
Hours: 9:00 – 7:00 Monday through Friday, 12:00-6:00 Saturday and Sunday

Exhibit runs from October 23, 2008, until January 31, 2009.
Admission is free.
Call 202-332-6235 for more information.

Oct 17: Cartoons You Can Believe In and The Cartoons You Deserve by R.J. Matson

thanks to Martha Kennedy for the tip!

SUSAN CALLOWAY FINE ARTS
1643 Wisconsin Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20007
Tel (202) 965-4601 Fax (202) 338-1660
www.callowayart.com gallery@callowayart.com

PRESS RELEASE

Preferred Publication Date: October 17, 2008
Contact: Naomi Cayne


WHAT: Cartoons You Can Believe In and The Cartoons You Deserve by R.J. Matson

WHEN: Friday, October 17th through Saturday, October 31st
Opening Reception - Friday, October 17th 6 - 8:30pm

WHERE: Susan Calloway Fine Arts


About the Artist

R.J. MATSON, the editorial cartoonist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Observer, and Roll Call, presents satire in its most aesthetic form. With a finger on the economic and political pulse of the nation, Matson creates cartoons that espouse a bipartisan commentary on current events. As he puts it, “I just try to react to the news and get it right. I don’t care so much about telling the world how I feel, just trying to get the smartest, funniest take on what's happening.” Just in time for the presidential election, Susan Calloway Fine Arts will feature recent political cartoons both in their hand-drawn, black and white original forms as well as colorized versions that have gone to press.

R.J. Matson was born in Chicago in 1963, and was raised in Belgium and Minnesota. He received his B.A. from Columbia University in 1985. Along with the aforementioned papers, Matson’s cartoons and illustrations have also appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, MAD Magazine, City Limits, The Daily News, The Washington Post, Capital Style, and Rolling Stone. One of Matson’s cartoons was selected as number one on Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Editorial Cartoons” of 2007 list. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and three children.


Susan Calloway Fine Arts specializes in contemporary art by local, regional, and international artists, antique American and European oil paintings, and a carefully chosen selection of 17th-19th century prints. The gallery also specializes in conservation framing using archival-quality materials and techniques, and traditional French mat decoration.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11-5, Sunday - Monday by appointment.

OT: Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics

This exhibit is by a couple of friends of mine, Damian Duffy and John Jennings.

Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics
Krannert Art Museum, 500 East Peabody Drive
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
October 24, 2008-January 4, 2009

What is comics?
Out of Sequence is an exploration of that question. It is a declaration of the diversity of sequential art in the United States, diversity of creators, content and form. It is a broad survey of women, small press, minority, independent, gay & lesbian, self-published, mini, underground, web and/or gallery comics creators.
What is comics? There is no one answer. Here are many.


Out of Sequence Events List

Thurs. Oct. 23: 6-8pm, Krannert Art Museum
Out of Sequence exhibition opening reception, featuring a talk by gallery comics creator Mark Staff Brandl and music by DJ Delayney
http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?ACTION=VIEW_EVENT&calId=449&skinId=578&DATE=10/23/2008&eventId=92824

Fri-Sat, Oct. 24-25: 10am-4pm, Link Gallery
The Next Panel Illinois Small Press Comics Expo
Small press comics artists, including several from the art show, will be selling their work. Mama's Boyz creator Jerry Craft will also be offering a family oriented workshop on creating comics on Saturday afternoon.
http://comicspace.com/nextpanel

Thurs. Oct. 30: 5:30pm, Krannert Art Museum
Gallery Conversation with Damian Duffy and John Jennings, co-curators and creators of The Hole: Consumer Culture (2008).

Sat. Nov. 8: 1-4pm, Krannert Art Museum Auditorium
"Emerging Out of Sequence: Examining the Past and Charting the Future of American Comics" Gallery conversation with Nancy Goldstein, author of Jackie Ormes:: The First African American Woman Cartoonist (2008), Andrei Molotiu, abstract comics creator and curator; Trina Robbins, comics creator and herstorian, and Ashley A Woods, independent comics creator. Moderated by co-curators Damian Duffy and John Jennings
http://illinois.edu/calendar/Calendar?ACTION=VIEW_EVENT&calId=449&skinId=578&DATE=11/8/2008&eventId=930

Fri. Nov. 14, 7-11pm: Artzilla
Comics Film Series in conjunction with Out of Sequence exhibition, Multimedia Hip Hop Set featuring images by John Jennings

VisArts call for children's book art

And another from Casey Shaw about an upcoming exhibit that's issued a call for children's book illustration:

"TURNING THE PAGE," A unique exhibit featuring original artwork from illustrators of children's books.
The artwork will be displayed next to a copy of the book in which it appeared, and both will be offered for sale.

NOTE: Original art (or if digital, a high-quality signed print) must be available for sale.
There is no entry or hanging fee, but the Gallery will retain a portion of the proceeds.

WHERE: The new VisArts Center Gallery in downtown Rockville, MD
WHEN: Thursday December 4, 2008 - February 21, 2009
GALLERY HOURS: Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 5:00pm. Closed Saturday.
The Gallery is open two Sundays per month from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm for openings and coffee talks.

JUROR: Harriet Lesser, Director of Exhibitions.
http://www.visartscenter.org

CALENDAR:
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - Deadline for entry - receipt (no later than 5:00pm)
Friday, October 17, 2008 - Notification of decision and agreement
Monday, December 1, 2008 - Deliver accepted artwork to VisArts: 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD 20850
Thursday December 4, 2008 - Opening Reception: 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Harriet Lesser
Director of Exhibitions
VisArts at Rockville
155 Gibbs Street, #300
Rockville, MD 20850

Hanoch Piven caricature exhibit in DC

Thanks to Casey Shaw of USA Weekend for the tip about this show at the Sixth & I St, NW synagogue!

What Candidates are Really Made of & Other Famous Faces
Sunday, September 21 - Monday, November 13

Sunday, September 21, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Children's Workshop)
Sunday, September 21, 3:00 p.m. (Opening)

Israeli artist Hanoch Piven creates evocative pop portraits of celebrities and notable politicians using found objects such as bubble gum, light bulbs and electrical wire. In the spirit of the upcoming elections, the exhibition will feature two original commissioned pieces of the presidential candidates. Find out what McCain and Obama are REALLY made of! Other portraits will include musicians, entertainers and U.S. and Israeli politicians.

Several of Piven's portraits are on permanent collection at the Library of Congress. His most recent project is the creation of the Hafatzim Mitlotsetsim TV program, which airs on the Israeli children's channel, Hop. Piven has also published five children's books, one of which Time Magazine named one of the best 10 children's books of the year. Piven is a regular contributor to Haaretz and his work has appeared in major publications throughout the world, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and Time Magazine in the United States. He won the gold medal from the Society of Illustrators and the silver medal from the Society of Publication Designers for his designs.

Viewing hours are Monday - Thursday and the first Sunday of the month from 12 noon - 3:00 p.m., or call 202/408-3100 to schedule an appointment.

In addition to the exhibit opening, there will also be a workshop for children on Sunday, September 21. The exhibit opening is free and the cost of the children's workshop is $6 per child. R.S.V.P. for these events to Sonia Rosen here or call 202/408-3100.

Jim Henson exhibit at Smithsonian

I've been lax on posting about this, even though DC blogger and work buddy Master Ibid recommended it to me. I've never really considered Henson a cartoonist, but the show opens with gag and strip cartoons he did. Also when you look at some of the early concept sketches for his puppets, he appears to have been influenced by Searle. You can get details and a podcast on the Smithsonian's traveling exhibits site. The exhibit is up through October 5th and is in the Ripley center under the Haupt garden, behind the Castle.

Our Man Thompson in San Francisco exhibit

Richard donated a piece to this Totoro Forest Project exhibit which will support anime great Miyazaki's love for forests - "Local artists join to save forest in Japan," Beth Hughes, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer, Friday, September 5, 2008. See his blog for more details.

OT: Deitch exhibit in NYC

Here's a posting for Bill K, who's handling the programming for SPX as well. This should be an excellent exhibit:

For immediate release
CONTACT: Bill Kartalopoulos
kartalopoulos@gmail.com

Major Retrospective of Work by Legendary Underground Cartoonist Kim Deitch Opens at MoCCA on September 9

• Exhibition dates: September 9 – December 5, 2008
• Opening Reception: September 12, 2008, 6 – 9 pm

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is pleased to announce a major retrospective of work by underground cartoonist and graphic novelist Kim Deitch (b. 1944), opening September 9th and running through December 5th, 2008.

Kim Deitch: A Retrospective will display original comics pages and other work covering the artist's entire career to date, beginning with full-page comic strips drawn for the East Village Other in the sixties up to recent graphic novels including The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Alias the Cat, Shadowland, and Deitch's Pictorama. The exhibit will also feature rarely seen work including elaborate preparatory
drawings, hand-colored originals, animation cel set-ups and lithographs.

Kim Deitch was born in Los Angeles in 1944, the eldest son of Oscar-wining animator Gene Deitch (Tom Terrific, Munro). Deitch studied at the Pratt Institute, traveled with the Norwegian Merchant Marines and worked at a mental institution before joining the burgeoning underground press in 1967. As an early contributor to the East Village Other and the editor of Gothic Blimp Works, Kim Deitch was a charter member of the underground comix scene that exploded with the 1968 publication of Robert Crumb's Zap #1. Forty years later, he stands alongside Crumb, Bill Griffith, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, and Art Spiegelman as one the most notable and prolific artists to emerge from that milieu. In addition to his comic books and graphic novels, Deitch's work has appeared in venues including RAW, Weirdo, Arcade, Details, the L.A. Weekly, McSweeney's, Nickelodeon Magazine, and The New Yorker.

"Kim Deitch's career spans the entire post-war history of avant-garde comics, from the underground to the literary mainstream," said exhibit curator Bill Kartalopoulos. "Deitch brilliantly weaves vast intergenerational narratives that enfold a deep history of American popular entertainment. Distinctions between fiction and reality blur in his meta-fictional world just as real madness bleeds into the visions and schemes of the artists, entertainers, and hustlers who populate his stories. The result is a rich narrative tapestry as compelling and as breathtaking as Deitch's densely layered, tightly woven, and intricately detailed black and white comics pages."

Deitch's body of work stretches outward from comics to embrace a spectrum of visual-narrative modes, including extra-textual single images and illustrated prose modeled after Victorian illustrated fiction. His most recent book is Deitch's Pictorama, a collection of illustrated fiction produced in collaboration with brothers Seth and Simon Deitch. The exhibit includes several examples of Deitch's
career-long experimentation with text/image modes.

MoCCA will publish an original poster and 1" button featuring the "Sunshine Girl" character who stars both in Deitch's earliest and most recent work. The Museum will also host a series of talks and events related to the exhibit.

MoCCA is located at 594 Broadway, Suite 401, between Houston and Prince. New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212 254-3511
MoCCA is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 12 – 5 pm, Sundays 12 – 3 pm.
Suggested Donation: $5
The opening reception is free and open to the public.
For more information please visit: http://www.moccany.org

OT: Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics exhibit

A couple of guys I know from ICAF, John Jennings and Damian Duffy, have some interesting ideas on exhibiting comics. They've curated a new exhibit, "Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics," which argues:

Despite recent attention to the history and development of comics, the steps required to create a new canon have been limited and incomplete. Out of Sequence continues and expands on investigations such as Masters of American Comics, presented in 2005 by UCLA's Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, by showcasing areas of sequential art that might otherwise be overlooked or underappreciated. These areas include the work of women and minority artists and small press and webcomics creators. The exhibition will explore alternate histories of American comics and suggest some of the limitless possibilities for the medium in the past, present, and future, from early newspaper strips to the Internet and virtual narratives in simulated three-dimensional space.

The exhibit includes a catalog as well.

It's booked for display in two places so far:

Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion
October 24, 2008 to January 4, 2009

The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar (The Lab), Belmar, CO
January 28, 2008 to April 26, 2009

Check out this checklist of art as well. This looks like an excellent exhibit. I hope it wanders to the East Coast too.

Tom Inge interview on Poe in Comics exhibit

You can hear Tom Inge interviewed by Nancy King on the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities website on June 13 2008 in "The Incredible Mr. Poe." There's a downloadable mp3 file and also the script for the story. Tom's exhibit on Poe in comics is up in Richmond for the rest of the summer.

OT: Dennis the Menace exhibit in North Carolina

This one's off-topic, but at Heroes Con I had lunch with Marcus Hamilton who does the daily Dennis the Menace. He's a real nice guy, and he's got an exhibit up now - the details are from the Charlotte Observer July 20 2008 and the exhibit “Illustrating: A Career and Drawing Dennis,” is up from July 28-Aug. 28 at the Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries in the Historic Cabarrus Courthouse in downtown Concord.

Robots exhibit in Baltimore

This little ad at the bottom of an edition of the Examiner led me to Port Discovery, Baltimore's children's museum and the traveling exhibit based on the cartoon Robots which is there from May 24-September 8. Here's their description:

Robots: The Interactive Exhibition is a one-of-a-kind exhibit that features characters from the blockbuster movie "ROBOTS." Each of the characters introduces children to the exciting and wondrous world of robotics through more than 15 interactive and hands-on experiences.

Embodying the spirit of technology and imagination, this exhibit is designed to engage, entertain, and enlighten visitors to the ever-changing field of science.

I enjoyed the cartoon, which I don't think did great at the box office. It had design work by William Joyce whom I always like.

Herblock, Drawn from Memory panel recording

I caught the National Portrait Gallery's excellent panel on Herblock last night. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, here's a link to download it. The NPG's description of the event read: The political cartoons of Herbert Lawrence Block (1909-2001), known by the pen name "Herblock," appeared in American newspapers for more than seventy years. National Portrait Gallery senior historian Sid Hart, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Haynes Johnson, historian Roger Wilkins together with Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Tony Auth, will join in a conversation about the life and work of one of the nation's greatest political cartoonists, Herblock.

More commentary to follow after I visit Afghanistan (at the National Gallery of Art) and Bhutan (Smithsonian Folklife Festival). Also Bruce Guthrie took photographs which I'll track down

Herblock and Oliphant exhibits featured on Voice of America

See "Cartoonists, Lampooning the Political Elite," By George Dwyer, Voice of America 18 June 2008. There's a video report as well as the web text.

Post reviews trifecta of political cartoonists exhibits

The Berryman, Herblock and Oliphant shows got noticed in today's Weekend section. See "Political Lines, Sharply Drawn," By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, June 6, 2008; Page WE23 who for some reason seems to feel that Oliphant is too hard on politicians. "Is that possible?" I must ask.

Actually, it's a shame this story wasn't longer as Sullivan could have been onto something, but had only 2 paragraphs per exhibit to make his point. Personally, I don't agree with him that political cartoonists are getting harder on their subjects. There's a lot of softballs out there, and the fact that Oliphant is throwing them may very well be the reason that he doesn't have a base newspaper. And Berryman's contemporaries could be as biting as any cartoonists - Berryman just chose not to be.

Here's the basic information lifted from the Post:

A Trio of Cartoon Exhibitions
Friday, June 6, 2008; Page WE23

Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman Through Aug. 17 at the National Archives, Constitution Avenue between Seventh and Ninth streets NW (Metro: Archives-Navy Memorial). 866-272-6272. http://www.archives.gov. Open daily 10 to 7. Free.

Herblock's Presidents: "Puncturing Pomposity" Through Nov. 30 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F streets NW (Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown). 202-633-1000 (TDD: 202-633-5285). http://www.npg.si.edu. Open daily 11:30 to 7. Free.

Leadership: Oliphant Cartoons and Sculpture From the Bush Years Through July 15 at the Stanford in Washington Art Gallery, 2655 Connecticut Ave. NW (Metro: Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan). 202-332-6235. Open Monday-Friday 9 to 7; Saturday-Sunday noon to 6. Free.

Illustrators Club exhibit reviewed in Post

See "Who Needs Words? The Pictures Say It All," By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 30, 2008; WE31.

The exhibit info is:

On the Wall: 14th Juried Exhibition of the Illustrators Club of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia Through June 27 at Edison Place Gallery, 702 Eighth St. NW (Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown) Info:202-872-3396. Hours: Open Tuesday-Friday noon to 4. Admission: Free.

NY Times (and New Yorker) on Iranian cartoonist

I must confess that I was completely unfamiliar with Mohassess's work, but there's an exhibit of it in New York city. See Life in Iran, Etched With Suspicion and Humor By KAREN ROSENBERG, New York Times May 30, 2008. In Ardeshir Mohassess’s drawings, the coded beauty of traditional Persian art comes face to face with the ugliness of successive autocratic regimes.

and "Satire, Iranian," by Ben McGrath, New Yorker June 2, 2008

Herblock exhibit sort of covered by Wash Times

Actually, although the exhibit is about three miles from their main building, they ran an AP article yesterday. See "Herblock lampoons the presidents again" By Brett Zongker - ASSOCIATED PRESS, Washington Times May 22, 2008.

Philadelphia's Mike's World

Ok, we're into Mission Creep here, just as Our Man Thompson foretold, yet asked for, but I couldn't pass this one up.

"An Artist’s Concocted World, Starring Himself, Is Too True to Be Real," By KEN JOHNSON, New York Times May 13, 2008.

“Mike’s World: Michael Smith & Joshua White (and other collaborators)” is a terrifically entertaining and philosophically compelling survey, at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, of Mr. Smith’s 30-year career.

And why bring it up, beyond the bond of Mike-ness? "In [Mike Smith's] inventive engagement with diverse forms, including drawing, comic books, sculpture, photography, musical theater and puppet shows as well as installations and video, he has followed a determinedly unpredictable, exploratory course." So there you have it - somewhere in this exhibit, are faux fine art comic books, presumably one of a kind - on display in Philadelphia, through August 3rd.