Saturday, March 11, 2006

 

Comic Art

This break in the usual programming for this space is mandated by the fact that I spent several hours yesterday here - At the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, viewing an exhibition entitled "Masters Of American Comics."
Comic strips and comic books were among the most popular and influential forms of mass media in the 20th century. This exhibition examines 15 key American artists who have helped define the form and brought it to the highest level of artistic expression. It features an extensive selection of approximately 900 original drawings, progressive proofs, vintage-printed Sunday pages, and comic books by Winsor McCay ("Little Nemo"), Lyonel Feininger, George Herriman ("Krazy Kat"), E.C. Segar, Frank King, Chester Gould ("Dick Tracy"), Milton Caniff, Charles Schulz, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Gary Panter, Chris Ware, and Art Spiegelman.
I don'y quite know where to begin to describe my reactions - I guess I'll start with the negatives.

The modern stuff was...ugly and generally tasteless. Crumb, Panter, Ware, and Spiegleman are influential, but weird. Of that group, only Spiegelman even qualifies as a good artist in my opinion, but his stories can be quite off-putting.

Crumb's influence cannot be understated, but most of his work is just base. As time progressed it appeared as if those that put the exhibition together were trying simply to shock or make a certain political statement as opposed to look at influence and quality of work.

But enough of that, let's talk about the good stuff

This incredibly famous cover is for a comic I hold proudly (if not valuably, it's in rotten condition) in my collection. It's Jack Kirby - The Master. This exhibit feature the original art by Kirby displayed next to the comic itself - it nearly brought a tear to my eye.

This is not the first time I have seen original Kirby work, but there was so much of it, and none of it was second rate stuff - spalsh pages from his early New Gods stuff at DC. Original art from some of the most famous images in the history of Marvel Comics - early FF, Cap, Thor (oh how I love Kirby doing Thor) Viewing all that original Kirby, and such significant Kirby, was one of those things someone like me can only dream about, it was stunning.





And right next to it - a bunch of Will Eisner originals, including this very image. The guy that virtually defined the form and there it was laid out in glorious original, pristine detail.

This was stunning exhibition, so stunning I find my critical facilities stuck in some sort of stutter - Amazing, fantastic, wow, awesome - CAN I TAKE THIS ONE HOME?

That in the end was probably the deepest affect this exhibition had on me. I have stayed out of the original art market as a collector - it's expensive, risky, and most notably addicting, but this was so tasty, I may have to dip in just once. Time will tell.

This is a travelling exhibition - if it makes it to your town, please catch it. If you take the kids, scope it out first and do not take them into the modern stuff, but do show them the older stuff.

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