29 October 2012
Exhibition of German comic art at DJCAD
Pic is 'Johnny Cash' (2006) by Reinhard Kleist.
Dundee can lay claim to being the spiritual home of the British comics industry, but the focus will switch to continental publications when a new exhibition opens at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) later this week.
'Comics, Manga & Co. The new culture of German comics' opens at the Matthew Gallery with a preview evening on Thursday 1st November. It features the work of 13 comic book artists from Germany, including Anke Feuchtenberger, who will visit Dundee for an Artist's Talk on Wednesday, 31st October.
Feuchtenberger is one of the best known German comic artists and has been publishing comics, drawings and illustrations since 1993. She has influenced and nurtured a new generator of illustrators and comic book artists, including Sascha Hommer, Arne Bellstorf and Line Hoven, who are also included in the exhibition.
The exhibition, which includes autobiographical, surrealist, and historical narratives alongside comic reportages and literary adaptations, reinforces Comics and Graphic Novels as a hugely important part of contemporary art, literature and popular culture. It is a Goethe-Institut touring exhibition and is presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Glasgow.
Sophia Hao, Curator at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, said, "In recognition of the strong culture of comic production and study within Dundee we are delighted to announce that the Matthew Gallery is to be the only UK venue to host this exceptional exhibition of works from the leading lights of German comic book art.
"Dundee's history of great character development from the infamous DC Thomson comic strip favourites such as Dennis and Gnasher, Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx through to the internationally known blockbuster computer games makes it the perfect city to host this exhibition."
Dundee continues to be prominent, not only in the publishing and gaming industries connected to comics, but also in education relating to this important area of popular culture. The University of Dundee's MLitt in Comics Studies is the only one of its kind in the UK.
This one-year course examines comics and graphic novels in terms of genre, style, formal properties and history, and also provides the opportunity to work on the creative aspects of comics production.
'Comics, Manga & Co' with its focus on two generations of German comics artists - the avant-garde that paved the way for the emergence of an independent culture of German comics, and a generation of younger comics artists whose work embraces new aesthetic and narrative aspects - complements one of the MLitt core modules on international comics traditions.
The free artist's talk by Anke Feuchtenberger, chaired by Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Comics Studies programme at Dundee, takes place from 5:30-7pm on 31st October on Level 5 of the Matthew Building, DJCAD, (Lecture Theatre 5013).
The preview, which is open to everyone to attend, will be held from 5-7pm on Thursday, 1st November with the exhibition taking place at the Matthew Gallery from 2nd November - 8th December. Opening times are 9.30am-5pm (Mon - Fri) and 10.30am-4.30pm (Saturday).
Featured artists are Arne Bellstorf, Martin Tom Dieck, Anke Feuchtenberger, Flix, Jens Harder, Sascha Hommer, Line Hoven, Ulf K., Reinhard Kleist, Isabel Kreitz, Mawil, Christina Plaka and Henning Wagenbreth.
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