Jan 17 in Richmond: Leading Illustrator's Poe Art Surveyed in Major Exhibit

1914-16 E. Main St. Richmond, VA 23223 Phone 804-648-5523 Fax 804-648-8729

News Release

Contact: Chris Semtner Phone: 804-648-5523 chris@poemuseum.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Exhibit Surveys Four Decades of Richard Corben's Poe Artwork

From January 17 until April 19, 2015, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia will host Reimagining Poe: The Poe Illustrations of Richard Corben a major exhibit surveying forty years of illustrations to Poe's works by Eisner Award-winning artist Richard Corben. This, the first retrospective of Corben's Poe illustrations, will feature several original drawings from the artist's personal collection.  The exhibit will open with a lecture about Corben's illustrations by Randolph Macon College professor M. Thomas Inge on January 17 at 5p.m. The exhibit opening and lecture will be part of the Poe Museum's annual Poe Birthday Bash, the world's largest celebration devoted to the nineteenth century author's birthday.

Richard Corben (born 1940) is a comic book artist and illustrator named   Corben began his career in animation before turning to underground comics. In 1976 he adapted a Robert E. Howard story into what is considered the first graphic novel, Bloodstar. He is best known for his comics appearing in Heavy Metal Magazine. His illustrious career has included work in album covers and movie posters, collaboration on a graphic novel with rock musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie, and an award-winning short film Neverwhere. He is the winner of the 2009 Spectrum Grand Master Award, and he was elected to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012.

For over forty years, Corben has established himself as one of the most extraordinary illustrators of Poe's works. His Edgar Allan Poe adaptations have appeared on the pages of the comic books Creepy, Edgar Allan Poe's Haunt of Horror, and Edgar Allan Poe's Spirits of the Dead. Among his dozens of comic book adaptations of Poe's tales and poems are popular favorites like "The Raven" and "The Cask of Amontillado," as well as little known classics like "Alone" and "Israfel." Not content with literal illustrations of Poe's words, Corben's exquisite artwork is often paired with his own unusual and innovative reinventions of the stories. In the introduction to Corben's latest collection of Poe adaptations, Edgar Allan Poe's Spirits of the Dead, Dr. M. Thomas Inge states, "Corben has proven to be the most acute and creative interpreter of Poe in comics history."

Edgar Allan Poe is the internationally influential author of such tales of "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Black Cat." He is credited with inventing the mystery genre as well as with pioneering both the modern horror story and science fiction. Poe died under mysterious circumstances at the age of forty. Although much of his life is known through contemporary documents, some areas of his life remain shrouded in mystery.

Opened in 1922, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum of Richmond is the world's finest collection of Edgar Allan Poe artifacts and memorabilia. The five-building complex features permanent exhibits of Poe's manuscripts, personal items, clothing, and a lock of the author's hair. The Poe Museum's mission is to interpret the life and influence of Edgar Allan Poe for a global audience. Edgar Allan Poe is America's first internationally influential author, the inventor of the detective story, and the forerunner of science fiction; but he primarily considered himself a poet. His poems "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Bells" are classics of world literature.

For more information, contact Chris Semtner at the Poe Museum at chris@poemuseum.org or 888-21-EAPOE. More information and a complete list of Poe-related activities can be found at http://www.poemuseum.org/events.php.

Shelton Drum's original comic art exhibit in Southern VA

"Heroes Aren't Hard to Find: The Comic Art Collection of Shelton Drum" exhibit at the William King Museum, Abingdon, VA, is absolutely fantastic, especially for someone around age 50-60. Shelton bought the art that we all would have, especially Spider-Man pages. Here's a set of pictures I snapped quickly, which don't do the art justice.

Why mention this on ComicsDC? Because local hero Richard Thompson is represented with two Cul de Sac strips.

Bhob Stewart's 1969 underground comics exhibit at the Corcoran

I never met Bhob Stewart who passed away this week. I'm sorry I didn't because our interests in pop culture overlapped. We must have corresponded about comics though, because my name was in his email address book, and his friend Brad Verter was kind enough to send a notice of his death, and some scans that he thought might be of interest. Bhob had apparently asked him to scan these for his blog Potrzebie, but didn't get a chance to use them.


Bhob was apparently instrumental in putting on Phonus Balonus, an underground cartoon exhibit at an offshoot of the Corcoran Gallery on Dupont Circle. Sean Howe has photographs online here, here, and here.

Here are the scans about the exhibit. I'm afraid most of them are only partially complete, but they give you an idea about what was in the show, and how it was received. Brad scanned the whole catalog of the show, and it's online here. Two libraries are shown in Worldcat as holding a copy of it - the Tate in London and UC Berkeley in California.

Corcoran Gallery's press release, page 1

Front cover to the catalog with art by Bhob.

Exhibit opening ticket.

Newspaper clipping with Skip Williamson art

Article from the New York Post.

Fragment of a Washington Post article

Partial Washington Post article from May 21, 1969.

Partial Washington Star article from June 1, 1969

Article from an unknown New York city magazine.

For more information on Bhob's life, read Bhob Stewart, 1937-2014, by Bill Pearson, Feb 26, 2014.

    

     

FIVE FANTASTIC CARTOON ILLUSTRATORS! exhibit pictures

Steve Conley's Adventure Time comic covers.

I stopped in to the opening for the exhibit (details at the bottom) and got some shots of the gallery, curator Britt Conley and cartoonists Steve Conley and Kevin Rechin. Marty Baumann is in one shot, and I had put my camera away before Matt Wuerker got there. Nick Galifianakis is traveling, but had a lot of cartoons representing him.

Kevin Rechin.

Marty Baumann's work.

Matt Wuerker's work.

This is mostly an introductory show and all the art is reproductions. The students were enjoying it, and asking a lot of questions of the cartoonists.

Steve Conley and his new book.

More pictures are here.

FIVE FANTASTIC CARTOON ILLUSTRATORS!: A Look at Art, Process, Story and Design

FEATURING: The art of Marty Baumann (movie and advertising illustrator/Disney and Pixar), Steve Conley (Independent Cartoonist / Astounding Space Thrills, Bloop, Star Trek, Adventure Time, The Escapist etc.) Nick Galifianakis (syndicated illustrator for The Washington Post), Kevin Rechin (syndicated illustrator - Crock Comic Strip) and Matt Wuerker (2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner illustrator for POLITICO)

The Tyler Teaching Gallery (Room 270) at the Tyler Building at Northern Virginia Community College/Alexandria Campus. 3001 N. Beauregard Street. Parking lot B has paid parking $2.00 per hour.

On October 21st, a panel discussion will happen with the cartoonists at 7:30 pm.

cARToons exhibit opens in Politics and Prose

The exhibit at Modern Times Coffeehouse in Politics and Prose bookstore, curated by Theresa Roberts Logan, opened tonight with many of the contributors attending. Here's some photographs, although I eventually gave up taking them when professional Joe Carabeo arrived.

Exhibiting the gold in the Golden Age at the Jewish Museum of MD

This past weekend I was able to attend the members' preview for the exhibit "ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950." The exhibit has arrived at the Jewish Museum of Maryland in downtown Baltimore and it's well-worth visiting.Curated by the late Jerry Robinson, this exhibit was put together in 2004 by the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, which published a catalogue of the same name.

 Robinson had multiple careers in cartooning including writing a history of comics, being an editorial cartoonist, and starting a syndicate, but he began as a young man in comic books. As a seventeen-year old he began working on Batman as a letterer and inker in 1939. Eventually he became a penciller for the character, and as an employee of what became DC Comics, he met a lot of artists. And thankfully he saved examples of their work, at a time when that behavior wasn't very common.

Simon & Kirby cover to Adventure Comics #78

The exhibit is full of original golden age artwork. It contains art by Mort Meskin, Lou Fine, Robinson, Will Eisner, Marc Swayze, Simon & Kirby, Charles Biro, Fred Ray, CC Beck, Fred Ray, Will Eisner, HG Peter, Sheldon Modoff, Bob Fujitani, Lee Elias, Irwin Hasen, Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris, Joe Kubert, Reed Crandall, Al Alvison, Carmine Infantino and Frank Frazetta. Many of these are prime pieces.

And many of the writers and artists were Jewish. As comics historian Arnold Blumberg noted in his remarks at the preview, "...it's a joy to see the exhibit come to a facility like this and to take a look at it from our unique perspective of what our culture, what our heritage, has given not just to itself, but to the world. The world owns Superman and Batman and all these characters now. Many of them may not have a clue where they came from, who were the kind of people who sat down and created them, but they are now owned by the entire world. They're heroes for everybody and they came from us."

Siegel & Shuster drawing dedicated to Robinson

The exhibit gives a basic history of comic books and characters and biographies of the creators, interspersed with now-priceless art and comic books. Particular attention is paid to World War II of course. Pages of an original Batman script by Bill Finger can be seen - Robinson's estate donated other examples of these to Columbia University this month. Historic highlights include Robinson's artwork for early Batman covers, his original Joker playing card sketch, and a Siegel & Shuster drawing of Superman dedicated to Robinson. A few cases examine the merchandising of Captain Marvel (aka Shazam) and Superman.

This version of the exhibit does have a tricky dichotomy to it. The uncolored, unfinished single pages of comic book artwork will appeal to a mature (elderly, if they bought the titles originally) viewer, while the idea of a superhero largely is aimed at male teens and younger children. This version of the exhibit caters to the very youngest viewers, with a set of tables, chairs and supplies for making cartoons, a replica of Superman's telephone booth with costumes set alongside it, a Batmobile kiddy ride, a newsstand with comics to read on it, and a piece of "Kryptonite"with a recording that warns one not to get to close.

 I was fortunate to be able to visit the exhibit with local cartoonists. Barbara Dale (of Baltimore), known for her humorous cartoons, fixated on the original Spirit page by Will Eisner and the Frank Frazetta that was next to it, and thought those two pieces made the entire exhibit worthwhile.

The Eisner Spirit page that impressed Barbara Dale...

...and the Frazetta cover that Dale also admired.

Note Wrightson's debt to Lou Fine.

Rafer Roberts (of Fredericksburg) pointed out several things to me - Moldoff's use of gouache to give white highlights on the legs of a monster on Moon Girl #4's cover for EC Comics, Bernie Wrightson's debt to Lou Fine (look at the skeletonized figure on the Hit Comics cover, and Bob Fujitane's use of the traditional iconography of Japanese monsters.

Bob Fujitane uses Japanese iconography.

I had seen a previous version of this exhibit in New York at the Jewish Museum there, but it was reworked as an addition to the massive "Masters of American Comics" show. Any fan of comic book history should take the opportunity to see this version of the show at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. The catalogue can be bought in the gift shop, along with Superman toothbrushes, Batman lunchboxes and hand-painted superhero yarmelkes. The Museum has produced two curriculum guides for schools and plans lectures throughout the exhibit which runs from January 27 - August 28, 2013, and costs $8 or less. More of my pictures can be seen here.

Obama, after Kal UPDATED

 

KAL gave a great presentation at an exhibit a few days ago. He talked about his career and political cartooning for an hour and a half, and it was great fun throughout. (The drawing above was a rush job, done on vacation at a dude ranch, and colored with a children's watercolor set.)

 

 

 

 

At the very end of his talk, he took the audience of about 30 people through a lesson in how to draw Obama. His was better, naturally, but it's pretty amazing that he got us to draw a recognizable caricature.

The exhibit, which includes some original artwork by KAL, is open for a few more days. If you go, make sure you see the second part of the exhibit downstairs.

 



 

Donkeys and Elephants: A Celebration of American Political Cartoons

January 4 - January 26, 2013

Studio Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Friday, 1 - 7pm
Saturday, 1 - 6pm

Directions To The Gallery

  2108 R Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008   |   info@studiogallerydc.com   |   202.232.8734

Donkeys and Elephants: A Celebration of American Political Cartoons exhibit is open

Donkeys and Elephants: A Celebration of American Political Cartoons

January 4 - January 26, 2013

Studio Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Friday, 1 - 7pm
Saturday, 1 - 6pm

Directions To The Gallery

  2108 R Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008   |   info@studiogallerydc.com   |   202.232.8734

Daumier & Oliphant: Together again for 3 more weeks

Political Wits, 100 Years Apart: Daumier and Oliphant at the Phillips. Washington, DC: The Phillips Collection, September 6, 2012 - January 20, 2013.

            This slim one-room show has only nine pieces of art in it, split almost half and half between caricaturist Honore Daumier and political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant. The text for the show focuses on Oliphant’s Pulitzer Prize-winning career. The most striking piece of artwork is a lifesize painting of Gifford Phillips (1999) that Oliphant did in chalk and oil. Oliphant drew Phillips in charcoal and then outlined him in a muted orange. Other Oliphant pieces include “Homage to Daumier” (2000), a Richard Nixon caricature “I have Returned” (1984), his sculpture “Naked Nixon” (1985), and “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” a 2000 lithograph of failed Democratic presidential candidates. These were all given to the Collection by the Oliphants who formerly lived in Washington. The Daumier works are untranslated prints, including his famous image “Le Ventre Legislatif” (1834) which caricatured France’s politicians.

Why do this exhibit? The textual focus on Oliphant - with a large biographical note - and a corresponding lack of one on Daumier seems odd. Does it suggest that their audience would of course know Daumier and his work and accept it, but that such would not be the case for Oliphant? Although the exhibit title implies a co-equal relationship, the focus is definitely on Oliphant.

Chief Curator Eliza Rathbone returned the following response: We wanted to get out all our works by Oliphant because they haven't been presented before all together.  It is intended as a primarily Oliphant show but also one that shows how his work connects with the enduring history of the Phillips (specifically its work by Daumier which has been central to the museum since its inception).  It is election season with a greater than usual focus on politics.  Also it is really an installation rather than an exhibition and should only be presented as such.

            I cannot quibble with Dr. Rathbone’s rationale. For 3 more weeks, one can see artwork by two great caricaturists that normally would be hidden away in storage.  Longtime residents may also recall the Phillips was the site of a truly great Daumier show, the 2000 exhibit that Oliphant’s “Homage” was drawn for. Daumier’s oil on wood painting, “The Strong Man” (1865) which is a carnival scene with a barker presenting the strong man can also be seen in the permanent collection. Sometimes one must simply accept and enjoy an opportunity. It's like that ad for chocolate and peanut butter candy - "Two great tastes together."

McDaniel's college exhibit photos

From: Warren Bernard
Attached are a bunch of photos from the show at McDaniels college. They also have a great Little Nemo page, a nice Krazy Kat page, amongst other stuff. And the Hal Foster original they had originally belonged to Caniff, Foster even tries to emulate Caniff in the piece.

OT: Viennese cartoon exhibit

So my wife just returned from Vienna, Austria, where she stumbled across a comics exhibit - the Fiese Bilder des Schwarzen Humors Meisterwerke comic and cartoon exhibit. She photographed it for me.

There's a few non-exhibit comics shots in there too of things she stumbled across - 2 of an Asterix sign, 1 of a poster warning of pollen, and 1 of a car with Michel Valiant comic art decoupage.

Thanks, Cathy!

Feb 25: JT Waldman exhibit opens in DC

From Politics and Prose's newsletter:

Friday, February 25, 1 p.m. (Exhibit opens)

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
JT WALDMAN
MEGILLAT ESTHER: The Book of Esther (Jewish Publication Society of America, $22)
JT Waldman turns The Book of Esther, with its twisting plot, into an illustrative masterpiece. The graphic novel is brought to life in an exhibit with interactive elements and an invitation for visitors to take part in the creative process. Waldman is a comic book illustrator and interaction designer. He is currently working on his next graphic novel, which he designed with the late Harvey Pekar. This exhibit will be on view from Monday through Friday, February 25 - April 29 during open tour hours from 1-2 p.m. Waldman will be speaking at 6th in the City Shabbat on March 11. Click here for information about attending this service. Click here for more information about the exhibit. Click here for a Google Preview of the book and its art.