German comic artists in the spotlight at new exhibition

Art by Reinhard Kleist

The University of Dundee's Matthew Gallery is hosting a new comics exhibition in November, in partnership with Germany's Goethe Institute and there's an artist's talk to open it this evening (Wednesday 31st October).

Comics, Manga & Co. – The New Culture of German Comics will be previewed tomorrow, Thursday 1st November between 5 - 7.00pm and the exhibition itself runs from  Friday 2nd November until 8th December.

The Matthew Gallery at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design is to be the only UK venue to host this exceptional exhibition of works from the leading lights of German comic book art. It includes autobiographical, surrealist, and historical narratives alongside comic reportages and literary adaptations, reinforces Comics and Graphic Novels as a hugely important part of contemporary art, literature and popular culture.

Featured artists are Arne Bellstorf, Martin Tom Dieck, Anke Feuchtenberger, Flix, Jens Harder, Sascha Hommer, Line Hoven, Ulf K., Reinhard Kleist, Isabel Kreitz, Mawil, Christina Plaka and Henning Wagenbreth.

Dundee’s history of great character development from the infamous DC Thomson comic strip favourites Dennis and Gnasher, Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx through to the internationally known blockbuster computer games such as Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat, makes it the perfect city to host this exhibition.

Today, Dundee continues to be prominent, not only in the publishing and gaming industries connected to comics but also in education relating to this important area of popular culture. There is an undergraduate elective module at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Comics Design and the University of Dundee’s MLitt in Comics Studies is the only one of its kind in the UK. This one-year course examines comics and graphic novels in terms of genre, style, formal properties and history, and also provides the opportunity to work on the creative aspects of comics production.   

Comics, Manga & Co. with its focus on two generations of German comics artists: the avant-garde that paved the way for the emergence of an independent culture of German comics, and a generation of younger comics artists whose work embraces new aesthetic and narrative aspects, is an ideal compliment to one of the MLitt core modules on international comics traditions.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an Artist’s Talk event this evening featuring the influential German comic book artist Anke Feuchtenberger. Feuchtenberger is one of the best known German comic artists and has been publishing comics, drawing and illustrations since 1993. She has influenced and nurtured a new generator of illustrators and comic book artists, including Sascha Hommer, Arne Bellstorf and Line Hoven, who are also included in the exhibition.

Born in East Berlin in 1963, Feuchtenberger studied graphic design and sculpture at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee (1983–1988). In 1989 she co-founded the short-lived artists’ collective PGH Glühende Zukunft as a freelance comics artist and illustrator. Since 1997 she has been a Professor of illustration in the Design Department of the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften in Hamburg. In 2008 Feuchtenberger co-founded the publishing house MamiVerlag with Stefano Ricci. She lives and works in Hamburg and Quilow.

The exhibition is a Goethe-Institut touring exhibition and is presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Glasgow.

The exhibition Comics, manga & co. The new culture of German comics and the catalogue, which includes additional texts by Matthias Schneider, the curator of the exhibition, aims to provide insight into the diverse world of German comics.

• The Matthew Gallery is on Level 5 of Matthew Building at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.The gallery is open Monday – Friday 9.30am – 5pm, Saturday 10.30am – 4.30pm. Exhibition info here online

• An Artist’s Talk by Anke Feuchtenberger, chaired by Dr. Christopher Murray will take place tonight, 31st October, 5.30 – 7pm. Please book online for this free event as spaces are limited and the demand has been high: http://ankecomics.eventbrite.com

• Further information about the exhibition can also be found on the Goethe-Institut website at www.goethe.de/comics