The Industry Today: Comics and Art Galleries

There are many things that people think of when they think of art, paintings that define a form of psychology, a view point of the world or the raw passion of human emotion, people then put art in a gallery, not just to capitalise on the work by allowing other people to look upon it, but to allow people to make up their own minds on how art makes them feel. So if art is able to make people feel so much and then they are put in galleries in order for people to express their appreciation then why is it not the same for comics as there are many pros, but also cons of comics being put into galleries.

To start things off I’d like to give my personal review on The Python Gallery and the exhibit of comic book art produced by Richard Piers Rayner who was born in Middlesborough. I like his work and the exhibit placed some of his works on the walls as they were based in the Middlesbrough area.(1)

The pages were separate from their books and cannot show their full sequential meaning as it is the sequential form of the whole book that can makes most comics great. This is shown in Alan Moore's Watchmen.(2) As the panels are sequential in forms of movement and work towards the story as shown in these panels below which depict issue 1 with the blood on the side walk and in the issue 5 Fearful Symmetry where the sequence of the panels continues into the centre fold.

Most examples of his art displayed were illustrations of the Middlesbrough football club and Dr Who and they can work as it is still comics the only difference is that these images are designs that went into pre-production and this is the right art that the artist selected as they appeal to the spirit of the area.(1)

This is good and bad for comics in galleries as people will wonder why certain comics are used instead of what is seen as the most impactful or effective on people, but at the same time it is good for morale to show work most inclined with the area as it is something for the people of the area to be somewhat proud of that someone so talented came from their neck of the woods.

Comics should be in a gallery as comics are an art form as well and many people can take inspiration from comics for what people refer to as “Art”, such as with Roy Lichtenstein’s Whaam and As I Opened Fire which in themselves is based on a comic panel from DC’s All American Men of War.

This was also done by Andy Warhol who was using images from pop culture which also included many comic strips and created art from it.

So in some cases isn’t the very inspiration for great art, art itself or the fact that a medium such as comics can make you feel things that art can make it art its self as art is also an expression of human emotion, this can be seen in Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes as it expresses great emotion and philosophy and in a way isn’t that itself art. It is Highbrow in its messages as it can apply to anyone provided they get the message. Although along the lines of Highbrow and Lowbrow there really isn't much to talk about as with modern art there is no such thing as good or bad, just art that speaks to people and art that doesn't.

Steve Ditko introduced forms of concept art and surreal backgrounds with Dr Strange and Mr A allowing an expansion of the way many viewed comics because during that time comics were routed basically with a real world element and never really touched the subjects of the surreal world as the layout.

This is work that should be in a gallery as it is in itself closest to the medium of surreal art an if it cannot be included as a comic it should be included due to the general look of the surreal background, the same goes for Jack Kirby with his work on the New Gods as it takes its inspiration from the form of Gods as have many other works of art such as the last supper although I would not say the two are on equal footing as the last supper is a long standing master piece that has lasted a very long time and has inspired many in the eyes of many.

Along the lines of money or bankability is the fact that there is a large comic book art following and with conventions and events like Thought bubble OR Comic-Con people do like to look at high quality art and give their opinions on it due to the fact that everyone has an opinion on art whether it be Highbrow like Steve Ditko or Lowbrow like Frank Quitely and that s good when it comes to money as a lot of people pay through the nose just to get signings for them, so for the best of the art produced or even the eldest of art produced people will pay to see it even new kinds of art never even shown by the artists as a form of exclusive to people willing to look at them.

But then again there are many people who do not like comics and even if there was necessary publicity I all depends on the area where you advertise or the people who live in the area and of course the curator as the curator is in charge of what art is there and based on what some people think it depends on what art is there and in order to keep the cultural heritage of the art and properly oversee the curator would have to be from a comic book industry background or at least had respect for the art form.

In conclusion for Comics and Galleries to work together there has to be the acceptance the comic books aren’t what they were in the 1930’s, it is 2016 and they are a respected art form and written craft, in order for them to work together their needs to be at last a small group of people in both modernist art and comics willing to take the next step, to put forth a modernist gallery of both comics and art to final show the similarities between the two and how they work off one another hopefully the industry will be the better for it, I mean Neil Gaiman's Sandman is now a required reading in psychology classes in universities and the more walls comics break down the more they do not pander to one group and build an identity in all forms just as all forms of Art do.

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