Seattle Twist

Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery springs into action in May with a succession of events featuring three of the country’s most celebrated cartoonists and remarkable illustrators. The public of all ages is invited to join us in an exciting series of exhibitions featuring Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24.

For this coming Saturday:
 
Los Angles artist Jordan Crane’s evocative and bittersweet meditations on the human condition in comics and illustration have gained him an enthusiastic following among art aficionados of all ages. His economical narrative observations have been published by Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books, including two issues of the comic book series Uptight, and graphic novels The Last Lonely Saturday and The Clouds Above, recently issued in trade paperback. His exhibition opening Saturday, May 10 includes exquisite limited edition prints and original artwork from his comics.

The reception, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, serves as the after-party for exhibitors and guests of the Emerald City Comicon, where Crane is among the featured artists. The opening also coincides with the lively Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack, featuring art, music and more at over 30 locations throughout the enchanting Georgetown neighborhood.

 Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street in Seattle’s Georgetown district. Open daily, 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: 206.658.0110.

www.fantagraphics.com

Look for posts regarding the next two shows over the next two weeks

The public is invited to join a stellar group of accomplished cartoonists in the “Friends of the Nib Comics Jam” at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, March 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Celebrated cartoonist and visual artist Jim Woodring will preside over the activities, which will include a guest appearance by New York underground comix legend Kim Deitch. Aspiring cartoonists of all ages are encouraged to participate in this lively session, which will include a rare screening of Deitch’s 1960 short film “Dial M for Monster.”

Friends of the Nib is an informal cartoonists’ solon formed by Woodring that meets weekly at Café Racer in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood. Acclaimed artists such as Ellen Forney, David Lasky and animator Bruce Bickford regularly attend to mentor emerging cartoonists and network with their peers. The “Comics Jam” on March 8 will feature more than a dozen artists cartooning on-site while offering casual encouragement to public participants.

Kim Deitch is among America’s most prominent and influential alternative cartoonists. The astonishingly sophisticated animated and live-action film short “Dial M for Monster” he created as a teenager with his friend Tony Eastman has become legendary among Deitch fans; it was never released, and has only been shown a handful of times in small venues. Prior to the 7:30 screening, he will introduce the film with a brief media presentation. Deitch’s work has been featured in Art Spiegelman’s RAW and R. Crumb’s Weirdo anthologies. In a recent review of Deitch’s Shadowland graphic novel, New York Times book critic John Hodgman observed, “Few underground cartoonists deserve that subterranean title so fully as Kim Deitch. He was there at the beginning of the movement, drawing for The East Village Other in 1967, and his work retains much of that psychedelic, R. Crumb-like earthiness.” In addition to Shadowland, Fantagraphics Books has collected Deitch’s work in Beyond the Pale and published
comic book series including The Stuff of Dreams, Mishkin File, and Waldo World.

Admission is free to the public of all ages. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. in Seattle’s Georgetown industrial arts district. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110. The “Comics Jam” coincides with the monthly “Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack.” Over twenty-five galleries, studios, nightclubs, boutiques, and cafes participate in this lively showcase of Georgetown’s creative diversity.

Opens Saturday January 12 at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle.

The youth rebellion of the 1960s produced some of the most stunning artwork and graphics of the 20th century. Four decades later, this imagery still resonates. The artists of this era will be featured prominently in Seattle at the dawn of 2008. The Frye Art Museum will host “R. Crumb’s Underground” opening January 26. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery will endeavor to place Crumb’s work in historical context with the exhibition “Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution” opening January 12, continuing through February 6, 2008.

Based on the book of the same title by comix historian and archivist Patrick Rosenkranz, in association with Fantagraphics resident curator Larry Reid, “Rebel Visions” will feature relics, artwork and artifacts by an impressive array of Underground era cartoonists: Justin Green, Rick Griffin, Greg Irons, Robert Williams and S. Clay Wilson, among others.

Patrick Rosenkranz is the author of two books on Underground Comix. In addition to Rebel Vision (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, 2003), he wrote You Call This Art?!: A Greg Irons Retrospective (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, 2006). The book chronicles the career of this influential, though largely unheralded, underground artist. Following his experience as a cartoonist, Irons moved to Seattle where he became an accomplished tattoo artist working at the storied Seattle Tattoo Emporium on First Avenue. Several works by Greg Irons from this period will be on display. Rosenkranz will lecture on R. Crumb and his compatriots at the Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Avenue, on Saturday, January 26 at 2:00 PM.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street at the corner of Airport Way S., in the heart of Georgetown’s lively business district. The space is open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110.