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Graphic-art exhibit shows the range of possibility

By Heather Castro Contributing Art Critic

With the recent overwhelming influx of comics into mainstream media — hello, Batman — it comes as no surprise that comics are coming into their own as a respected art form. While Hollywood delves into the abundant action-adventure story lines, the art world is exploring the history and theory of the graphic medium.

After all, both a Picasso and Garfield involve the use of line, color and an idea. Why not have an ­appreciation for both?

The comics on display at the ArtsPlace Gallery’s exhibition Comic Art run the genre’s gamut. Political cartoons, caricatures and narrative storytelling are all represented, fitting the bill for a fine-art look at the art of the comic.

”Comic art goes across generations,“ says Nathan Zammaron, community arts manager for LexArts, the show’s presenter. ”But by bringing it into a space where it’s not typically seen, the exhibit brings out respect for the artistry.“

The exhibit, featuring work by regional comic artists, showcases the forms and styles prevalent in Central Kentucky and allows an easy introduction into looking at these works in a new way.

Some examples will be more familiar, including the cartoony/iconic work of Herald-Leader artist Chris Ware and Lexington artist Kenn Minter. However, to see the process behind Ware’s works, evident in the exhibit’s inclusion of pencil sketches and full-color works, is like a peek behind the wizard’s curtain. Minter’s comics, featuring geometric, heavily lined narrative strips, follow the visual look of the funny papers, but they exhibit philosophic reflections on everyday life. Hardly Garfield material.

Other examples in the show help bring comics out of the box. The ”action hero/comic book“ realistic type of narration is most prominent in the exhibit, but the work by Mike Maydak truly shows the artistry of comics. His nine-page series 1782: The Year of Blood, Estill’s Defeat details in sepia tones a historic Western battle between Montgomery Countians and Native Americans. The pages feature a clever interweaving of story and style: the panes of the narrative are separated by hewn logs, providing clarity of story and atmospheric elements. The indication of bloodshed — this isn’t a kiddie comic — is shown both by Hollywood-esque sprays of blood but also by drops of red ink over the image, as if the victims stood over their own story.

The show is a good introduction for those who still think of comics as only a part of the Sunday newspaper, but its weakness falls into the uniformity and limitations of local artists. The under-representation of the cutting edge of comics — abstraction — is keenly felt. Two works come closest to exposing Lexington’s audience to this real connection of fine art and the comic: Jason Hicks’ Page 25 and Brian Wolf’s Jabberwocky Selection. However, because the show’s juror, Shawn Crystal of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus, concentrates his own work into the realistic genre of comics, one can only think that the abstractionists stayed away.

In addition, a few of the exhibit’s pieces showcase clichés and scenes that are droll at best, unoriginal and dull at worst. If a comic is to delve into clichés, it must do so with no holds barred, like Jay Choppe’s visually riveting and narratively riotous Red Mullet and Cow-Boy, which details the battle between two Kentucky heroes and ”a big ol’ boy.“

Despite these problems, Comic Art is a stellar summer show, featuring local artists who don’t get much recognition in the gallery scene. With the increasing acknowledgment of comics functioning as cultural art, however, one can expect to see more of their work, and other comic artists, in galleries and homes in the future.

Cue the Bat-signal!