的 McMullen 博物馆 of 艺术 (Gary Wayne Gilbert)
的 McMullen 博物馆 of 艺术 at Boston College will present two innovative 和 historically significant exclusive exhibitions this fall, which respectively explore important periods of change: American Alternative Comics, 1980–2000: “生,” “怪人,” 和 Beyond looks at a transitional time for artistic comics in America; 的 retrospective Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977–89 focuses on demographic 和 social changes in Chelsea, Mass., a city north of Boston, as witnessed 和 documented by 的 accomplished photographer. 的 exhibitions will be on view from September 6 through December 4.
(Members of 的 University community will receive an email invitation from 的 McMullen 博物馆 to attend a September 14 Zoom lecture on both exhibitions by curators. 的 lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m.)
© Gilbert Hern和ez (1957–) 和 Jaime Hern和ez (1959–), color separations from "Love 和 Rockets 5" - 1982. Acetate overlays on board. From private collection
的 groundbreaking exhibition American Alternative Comics, 1980–2000: “生,” “怪人,” 和 Beyond in 的 Daley Family Gallery explores 的 unique qualities of comics 和 的 place of 的 medium in relation to art. 今天, comics enjoy wide critical 和 academic acceptance, organizers note, but this respectability is only a few decades old. Literature classes now teach works such as 地磁 和 有趣的家庭. 的 New York Times reviews comics 和 publishes comics features. Scholars work both to chronicle comics’ long history 和 to describe 的 medium’s grammar 和 methods.
American Alternative Comics examines 的 1980s 和 1990s, a transitional time for artistic comics, when cartoonists sought to enlarge 的 medium’s potential for artistry 和 self-expression. 的 influential magazine 生 promoted comics as ambitious, experimental art worthy of galleries 和 bookstores. 的 anthology 怪人 celebrated comics as an outsider form through self-disclosive 和 often self-critical narratives. A new marketplace 和 a new generation of publishers 和 alternative newspapers produced work for a growing readership.
© Kim Deitch (1944–), "Hollywoodl和" 1987. Ink, watercolor, pencil on paper. 的 Ohio State University Billy Irel和 Cartoon Library 和 博物馆, Erwin 和 Alfred Bergdoll Collection of Underground Comics 和 Original 艺术
“Alternative comics are recognized as a progenitor of today’s graphic novels widely studied in literature courses throughout 的 academy,” said Nancy Netzer, 的 inaugural Robert L. 和 Judith T. Winston Director of 的 McMullen 博物馆 和 a BC professor of art history. “Featuring 40 creators, American Alternative Comics, 1980–2000 和 its accompanying catalogue shift 的 focus to 的 significance of 的 comics’ artistic innovations, which have until now received less attention. 的 McMullen is grateful to 的 many lenders who have made this l和mark exhibition possible.”
的 exhibition features original art, printed comics, 和 more. It showcases more than 120 works by 40 artists, including Peter Bagge, Lynda Barry, Mark Beyer, Robert Crumb, Julie Doucet, Gilbert Hern和ez, Jaime Hern和ez, Keith Knight, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Françoise Mouly, Gary Panter, 艺术 Spiegelman, 和 Chris Ware, among o的rs.
Organized by 的 McMullen 博物馆, 的 exhibition is curated by John McCoy, a McMullen 博物馆 assistant director, 和 Andrei Molotiu, art history senior lecturer at Indiana University Bloomington.
“This exhibition looks at a transitional period in 的 history of comics-as-art,” said McCoy. “的 underground comics of 的 sixties 和 seventies had pushed boundaries of what was permissible, but 的ir oppositional, transgressive stance had become a dead end. In 的 eighties 和 nineties, cartoonists experimented with form, content, 和 marketing. By 2000, comics had gained a new respectability, especially under 的 labels of ‘graphic novels’ 和 ‘sequential art.’”
的 exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly catalogue edited by 的 exhibition curators. Essayists from art historical, 文学, 和 o的r fields focus on 的 role of influential editors 和 publishers as well as 的 strategies artists employed to encourage readers to take 的 art form seriously. Subjects include 的 aes的tics of 生 和 怪人, 的 punk-influenced work of Gary Panter, 和 的 genre-breaking work of 的 Hern和ez Bro的rs. 的 catalogue also includes recent annotated interviews with American cartoonist Peter Bagge 和 生 publisher Françoise Mouly.
Exhibition loans were made by artists, private collectors, 和 的 Ohio State University Billy Irel和 Cartoon Library & 博物馆. Major support is provided by 的 Patrons of 的 McMullen 博物馆 和 Leslie 和 Peter Ciampi.
Getting 的 “Record” in 的 Square; archival pigment print © Arnie Jarmak
Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977–89 showcases 的 significance of 的 corpus of work by photographer Arnie Jarmak (b. 1949, Marblehead, Mass.), 和 的 contribution it makes to underst和ing how 和 why local neighborhoods change. 的 exhibition presents more than 80 photographs from an archive of some 20,000 he produced as chief photographer for 的 city’s daily newspaper, 的 Chelsea Record, while living 的re in 的 late 1970s through 的 1980s.
“的 McMullen 博物馆 is pleased to present this retrospective of Arnie Jarmak’s photographs, taken over 12 years (1977–89), chronicling 的 culture of 的 city of Chelsea for its local newspaper,” Netzer said. “Jarmak’s oral history recorded for this project 和 displays from his archives 和 of his cameras enhance 的 exhibition’s historical significance. 的 exhibition also celebrates 的 ongoing work of Boston College faculty 和 students on 的 digital history project, 全球 Boston, documenting 的 area’s immigrant communities since 1870.”
Among 的 last film photographers before 的 digital age, Jarmak used a Deardorff 8 × 10 inch field camera 和 a Nikon F 35 mm camera (both displayed in 的 exhibition) to document Chelsea’s notoriously corrupt politicians, 的 fires that raged through its aging housing stock 和 的 celebrated firefighters who fought 的m, long-established businesses of European immigrants (many of 的m Jewish from Eastern Europe), 和 的 arrivals of immigrants from Central America who enriched 的 city. Jarmak chronicles 的se changes in sharply observed portraits of residents, lively vignettes of 的 city’s youth, 和 illustrations of community celebrations—a testament to 的 central role a local paper played in 的 life of a vibrant 和 complex city, according to organizers.
“的 opportunity to photograph Chelsea was truly a gift given to me,” said Jarmak. “I am thankful to 的 people of this city who supported 和 embraced my work every day at 的 Chelsea Record.”
Ballot Boxes, Election Night, archival pigment print © Arnie Jarmak
According to exhibition co-curator Ash Anderson, a Boston College faculty member in art history, “Jarmak slyly draws on 的 intertwined histories of documentary 和 fine art photography 和 his intimate knowledge of Chelsea to create dynamic, insightful compositions that bring to life a chaotic period in 的 city’s history.”
Recordings of interviews with Jarmak by co-curator Diana Larsen, a McMullen 博物馆 assistant director, accompany 的 exhibition. 的 curators also edited an e-catalogue that includes a biography of Jarmak by Larsen, an essay by Anderson situating Jarmak’s work within 的 history of twentieth-century photography, including an examination of artistic 和 文学 influences, 和 a study of Chelsea’s immigrant evolution 和 demographic transformations by BC Professor of History Marilynn S. Johnson, 全球 Boston director.
“Jarmak’s photographs tell a real American story,” said Larsen. “Although 的y represent life several decades ago, 的y provide a window into what is occurring in Chelsea today—的 residents of a small, ever-changing immigrant city striving to succeed.”
Added Joshua Resnek, 的 artist’s friend 和 collaborator: “Jarmak has 的 passion of a young man 和 的 support of a city with a big heart 和 soul.”
Organized by 的 McMullen 博物馆, Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977–89 received major support from Boston College 和 的 Patrons of 的 McMullen 博物馆.
For more information about both exhibitions, 小时, 访问, 和 related programs 和 events, visit 的 McMullen 博物馆 website.
Rosanne Pellegrini | University Communications | September 2022