crumb

i went to see the crumb exhibition at the whitechapel gallery the other day. have to say the exhibition is a little bit disappointing – not so much in that crumb’s art is not well represented but because there was not enough of his non underground comix work there.

i have to admit that i was never a big fan of the underground comix scene – a little like punk i was there, but it just passed me by (while my school contemporaries were going to see the sex pistols and stranglers i was listening to elp (still am) while they were reading the likes of weirdo and zap i was reading superman (still am). so i never developed a love or an appreciation of crumb and his ilk, while my love of “superhero” comics (and prog) has stayed with me to this day.

that isn’t to say i am not fully aware of the works of crumb (how could i avoid crumb, we share an interest in certain types of women!) having leafed through various copies of weirdo, zap and the collected works published by fantagraphics.

it’s that familiarity that has meant that the show is not as exciting as i would have liked it to be.
for me the problem is that the vast bulk of the material that is on offer are comix pages – while they may show the range of interests and obsessions that inhabit crumb’s work, there is a sense of looking at reproduced work and not originals. (in fact in some cases it does look like they have just removed pages from the comics to put in the frames – however as i do not know enough about crumb it may be that his working method is such that his completed page is pretty near perfect).
as i have said i love comics and i love the comic art form – but it’s not a form that translates well to being hung on the wall of galleries. what makes comics a unique and wonderful art form is the interplay between the words and pictures and it’s all those pesky word balloons and captions that makes it a less than thrilling experience in a gallery (especially if you are like me and read comics on a regular basis). it also means that people can’t appreciate the art from a distance as they need to read the words….

where the show comes into its own is in the few, sadly, sketches that adorn the walls. part of the reason these are so interesting is that they are not as refined as the work that was published – they are looser, more intimate but still concerned with the topics that appeal to crumb. these sketches give fresh insight into the published work.

judging by the number of people who were at the show, it looks likely that crumb has captured himself a new audience.
although a little disappointed with the content of the show, the work on view is great so i know i will be dusting off a few copies of the crumb books and looking again at his work.
go see it – it’s on at the whitechapel until may 22nd 2005.