Masters of American Comics

For the Hammer, I curated a full slate of related programs for the exhibition Masters of American Comics. Many of these were reproduced in some form as the exhibition traveled the country. These included The Fifth World: An Evening of Fan Fiction, featuring Beth Lisick as host, with a cast reading from found comics-inspired fiction and a screening of a number of stellar fan-films, not the least of which were early 16mm shorts done by Don Glut (who also introduced the films); Conversations between Art Spiegelman & John Carlin, Jonathan Lethem & Gary Panter, Stanley Crouch & Dana Goodyear, and Chris Ware & Tim Samuelson; an evening with the artists of Kramer’s Ergot with Shary Boyle; kid’s comic-making workshops with Jessica Abel, Jordan Crane, and Kazu Kibuishi in collaboration with 826LA; a screening of Will Eisner: A Portrait of a Sequential Artist; and discussions on Women in Comics, Politics in Comics, and a round table with the Legends of the LA Comics Underground. Thanks to all of the artists involved (those not mentioned above include Trina Robbins, Lalo Alcaraz, David Rees, Ho Che Anderson, Robert Williams, Carol Lay, Jen Sorensen, and Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez) and to Michael Dooley who helped with hosting duties and for co-organizing some of these events.
Here’s an image from Shary Boyle’s overhead projection performance, also known as one of the best things I have ever seen…ever.