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Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008
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ZAP! R. Crumb's Underground at the Frye Art Museum through April |
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| ZAP! R. Crumb's Underground at the Frye Art Museum through April | |
| by Maggie Bloodstone -
SGN A&E Writer R. CRUMB'S UNDERGROUND FRYE ART MUSEUM JANUARY 26-APRIL 27 Botticelli had Venus. Dali had Gala. Frida Kahlo had&Frida Kahlo. Call them muses, models, or metaphors, almost every visual artist worth their titanium white has had an image of aesthetic perfection nestled behind their 3rd eyes inspiring them to ever-greater realms of creative epiphany. And more often than not, that image is (Tom of Finland notwithstanding) female. For Robert Crumb, the ubermuse comes in the form of a tall, muscular Amazon of any race, creed, or color with piledriver legs and an ass that could make the Pope believe in God. I know the first time I read "Lenore Goldberg And Her Girl Commandos" in Motor City Comics I was a believer - when all mainstream comics had to offer in the late '60s was Betty, Veronica, and a rather beige version of Wonder Woman, big bad babes who liked fucking as much as fighting were a unique but welcome concept. Of course, if that was all there was to the work of Robert Crumb, then the Frye Art Museum wouldn't be welcoming him with open arms for three months of forums, lectures, film, and a half-century worth of some of the most influential, disturbing, raunchiest, and socially prescient art ever seen under or above ground. (And big, broad-beamed babes. Lots of 'em.) The exhibition, presented by the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts in San Francisco (where Crumb first published his Underground comic, Zap) encapsulates all things Crumb from the first hand-drawn comics by the young Bobby to the present, and I fully expect to see a buttload of work I haven't even seen in 30 years of being a comics junkie in general and a Crumb acolyte in particular. (I intend to display my tattoos of his Janis Joplin and "Devil Girl" proudly at the opening.) Keep in mind when you walk through those doors into the Crumb-O-Verse, though, while Crumb's Fritz The Cat/Mr. Natural/Keep On Truckin' period is his most famous/notorious, there is a staggering wealth of material from autobiographical comics that directly influenced the alternative comics boom of the '80s and '90s, portraits of the early blues musicians whose music Crumb has adored since before it was hip, painfully beautiful landscapes both urban and pastoral, and even more painful looks into the psychosexual heart of darkness that is modern America. (And did I mention babes?) Following is a list of special events being held at the Frye Art Museum in conjunction with the R. Crumb's Underground exhibit. The Frye Art Museum is located at 704 Terry Ave., 206-622-9250. For more information, visit www.fryeart.org or www.fryemuseum.org. January 26, 2 p.m. - Opening at the Frye Art Museum with the lecture "Robert Crumb and The Underground Comix Revolution" by Comix historian Patrick Rosenkranz. January 27, 2 p.m. - Screening of the documentary Crumb. The hugely popular '94 film by Terry (Ghost World) Zwigoff was the introduction to Crumb's art for many non-comics fans, but the nerve-wracking portrait it painted of the dysfunctional Family Crumb turned out to be its defining feature (not to mention convincing Crumb himself to grow a beard so he wouldn't be recognized on visits to the U.S. from his present home in France). February 2, 2 p.m. - Gallery Talk: "R. Crumb's Underground" with Robin Held, Frye Chief Curator. February 24, 2 p.m. - Gallery Talk: "Comic Book Style On Film," a talk curated and hosted by film critic Robert Horton. March 27, 7 p.m. - Comics Forum with moderator Gary Groth (Co-founder, Fantagraphics Books, which has published numerous volumes of Crumb's work), with comic artists Peter Bagge, Ellen Forney, and Jim Woodring April 17, 7 p.m. - Gallery Talk: Larry Reid, Fantagraphics bookstore and gallery curator (and local cultural icon for nigh onto 30 years). And if you like Crumb, you'll love REBEL VISIONS: The Underground Comix Revolution, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, 1201 S. Vale St. at Airport Way S., (206) 658-0110, now through Feb.6. Assembled by Patrick Rosenkranz and Larry Reid, this exhibit will include art by Zap and other Underground alumnus such as Justin Green, Rick Griffin, Greg Irons, Robert Williams, S. Clay Wilson and more. |
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