So, earlier this month I vacationed in Vancouver B.C. and caught an exhibit of comic, video game, and animated art at the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG, an unfortunate or awesome acronym depending on your sense of propriety, response to 3rd-wave feminism, and maturity respectively). I’ve neglected posting about it because, there’s really not much to say that hasn’t been said about the respect/renown comics are getting from the mainstream art world and society at large. I’ve never been all too concerned about comics’ reputation, so much as I was stoked to see the original art of so many of my favorite artists. Especially with regard to the drafting process: seeing all the discarded character sketches, panel layouts, and notes.
You’ll have to excuse the picture quality– taking photos was prohibited, so I had to be sneaky to get any document of my visit at all. Okay, there was a coffee table book accompanying the exhibition, which didn’t seem all that appealing when I thumbed through it aaaaand, I’m cheap.
Click on pics for a bigger (but still grainy) image.
- “Gertie the Dinosaur” wasn’t the first animated cartoon created, it introduced many innovations to the emerging medium. Created by Winsor Mckay, the visionary artist of “Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland,” the cartoon was originally part of a vaudeville act where McKay interacted with the film as it was projected.
- Winsor McKay’s production notes for “Gertie the Dinosaur” (listed as “Bessie,” text reads: “Hands Off / Leave this Book Alone / Data of Bessie / the Dinosaur”
- George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, where love is expressed in the form of a brick to the head. Recently reprinted in beautiful Chris Ware designed tabloid-sized editions by Fantagraphics.
- Speaking of Chris Ware, here’s an original page from a recent issue of the Acme Novelty Library. You can see some of his original layout in non-photo blue.
- An abandoned page draft from Clyde Fans by Seth.
More pics after the jump
- “Maus,” convinced my mom that maybe comics weren’t all garbage and a waste of my adolescent money/time.
- “Uh, I used to like Dan Clowes, like in high school before I found out he was ripping off Charles Burns…”
- Original collages from Lynda Barry’s “100 Demons,” which is a totally genius mix of childhood trauma, adult neuroticism, and the purest sort of tragicomedy exemplified by its spiritual predeccessor “Peanuts.” (Of course, “Peanuts” is the spiritual predecessor of like, 50-99% of printed comics…)
- Individual panels from Chester Brown’s French-Canadian historical epic, “Louis Riel.”
- Inked line art & washes for Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home.”
- Page from “Tekkon Kinkreet,” by Taiyō Matsumoto which was recently turned into a full length anime film. The film clips I saw looked great, and I recently ordered this but haven’t read it.
