Revolution
Art in times of social unrest
Art in times of social unrest
“Artists use lies to tell the truth while politicians use them to cover the truth.” -Alan Moore, V for Vendetta, 1982
This website is a growing database of my personal art collection. It’s a call for revolution, and a warning of its’ consequences. The collection consists of original comic art (splashes, pages, comic strips), silkscreens, illustration and production cels from animated movies. They are acquired in art galleries, auction houses and artists’ studios.
Casper Grey
1. The Batman Chronicles
Cam Smith
Anarky in Tommorow Belongs to Us #1 / 1
DC Comics, 1995
28x43 cm, pencil + ink
Original, hand-drawn, opening splash-page from the first issue of The Batman Chronicles. It has glued-on speech baloons, a number of editor’s comments in blue crayon and two stamps of DC Comics.
In the splash page, there is a group of youngsters, plotting to form a revolutionary force. They are angry at the system - rotten and ripe for collapse. I can really understand their motivations, but at the same time it scares me. Anger makes people vulnerable to manipulation.
2. Kibic
Joanna Karpowicz
City Stories, Stowarzyszenie Twórców Contur, 2013
20x20 cm, acrylic paint on canvas
Second scene of the third page from a comic book “City stories” created by one of my favourite Polish illustrators of the young generation. It is hand painted on a tiny square canvas and, however small in size, it is a great addition to the collection. As far as I know, Karpowicz is one of very few artists who create their comic stories with this technique (painting each image on a separate canvas, rather than a full page on paper).
Basically, the guy is throwing a brick. In the Polish context, it relates to hooligans fighting on the streets, but it could easily be placed in different scenarios.
3. All Dogs Go to Heaven
United Artists, 1989
All Dogs Go to Heaven (animated movie)
23x25 cm, Color Model Cel Setup
An outstanding 16 field color model cel of Anne Marie and Charlie B. Barkin, the German Shepard voiced by Burt Reynolds. This is a 2 cel setup with huge images, used for ink and paint department reference. I bought it through an auction house - Heritage Auctions in USA. The process of bringing it into Poland was a bureaucratic nightmare. Some works of art are exempt from tax, as long as they are hand-painted as works of art on canvas by one artist. This one was described in the documents issued by the auction house as being painted by a commercial animation studio, which was a slightly different case. Anyway, I did prove it was in fact a work of art and the tax was lifted, but we should find a better way to do this.
Charlie is shown here, reading “War and Peace” to Anne Marie. It’s a novel that chronicles the history of the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families. I find it to be a really soothing image. First of all, I liked the movie a lot. Watch it! Secondly, the book in Charlie’s paws reminds me that bad times come and go, and after some time - they become just stories.
4. Weirdo #26
Robert Crumb
Weirdo #26, 1989/ Wildwood Serigraphs, 2010
50x65 cm, serigraph
This serigraph of the cover of a legendary underground magazine Weirdo #26 was printed in November 2010 by Anagraphis, and signed, numbered and dated by Crumb in late November. It is printed with an oil-based ink in 9 colors. Paper used is 270 gram "Velin d' Arches" archival paper. By the way, Robert Crumb is a fucking master.
The beautifully crafted image has two parts: in the center it shows thousands of figures, piling up and fighting with each other. A lonely man sits on the side of the freaking human pyramid, typing. “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.” People grabbing money from the sky. Yup.
5. Kajko i Koko
Janusz Christa
Kajtek i Koko, Egmont, 1961
8x35,5 cm, pencil + ink
Original comic strip by one of the most well-known Polish artists, Janusz Christa. It was created for a story published by “Wieczór Wybrzeża” magazine in 222 episodes (18.11.1961-17.08.1962), under the original title “Adventures of Kajtek-Majtek”, issue nr 98. It was later re-published as “Kajtek, Koko and the Pirates” by Egmont, in 2001. The paper has already turned its’ color, into a hue of yellow, due to old age. Buying this piece was somewhat symbolic for me, as I grew up playing a funny computer game Kajko i Kokosz, based on the characters created by Christa.
The short strip shows Kajko and Koko relaxing on a desolate island, watching TV. The news anchor comes on and describes the latest military activites of their home country. He says that the Army is going to test a grand new weapon - an AMAZING new bomb. The test ground turns out to be the very island our two heroes are on. This right here is my ultimate fear - a nuclear bomb. Not a nice way to go.
6. There is no Justice
Łukasz Kowalczuk
There is no Justice, 2015
20x30 cm, pencil + ink
This is a piece created by another one of my favourite Polish illustrators, Łukasz Kowalczuk. He is an author of underground comic zines, such as the cute “I hate people”. I acquired this piece in an art gallery in Wrocław (Mia), which was hosting a sizable solo exhibition of Kowalczuk. This guy is awesome, I love his punk.
I think the quote “There is no justice. There’s just us.” is a reference to a book by Terry Pratchett - “Reaper Man”.
7. Darkhawk
Darkhawk, Marvel Comics, 1993
56x43 cm, pencil + ink, foil, acrylic paint
Original art from “Darkhawk”, published by Marvel (issue 30, pages 2-3). It’s a very rare “double splash”, which means that both facing pages represent the full image when the book is open. The drawing is made with a number of different techniques: pencil + ink and a special background on foil (two different textures used for continents and the stars). It is biiiiiig.
Suddenly, CRIME all around the world STOPS, as in a magic spell. Villains throw down their weapons and beg for forgivenes. In the right bottom corner it says: “Yeah. You’d think that everybody getting along would be good...”
8. Charlie Hebdo
Cabu
Charlie Hebdo, 1982
magazine issue #25
Here is an old issue of the Charlie Hebdo magazine that I bought after the devastating terrorist attack in Paris in 2005. The creator of the cover- Cabu, was one of the best known comic artists in France. He ventured into very controversial topics. As it seems, he was killed because of this - among another great artist, Charles Wolinski and 10 other people. The attack was executed by skilled fighters, which really freaked me out. ISIS is an example of a social unrest that got it all fucking wrong.
The cover is a reference to a horrible accident of a school bus at Beaune, in which 53 people died - 46 of them children between 5-17 years old. The image shows a guy laughing at a skeleton, shouting “He doesn’t have panties!”. The title asks: “CAN YOU LAUGH AT DEATH?”.
Looking on the bright side, Cabu’s only son died of HIV, so at least he didn’t see his father being shot by terrorists 5 years later.
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