Something solid for the soul. No arguments, just easy, digestible compositions of stone and sky.

We prop the titans of our history with flimsy structure, temporal and arrogant. A weight of stone and time rests for a moment on metal crutches.

Better move before the walls turn to dust, and you into history.

The final stop before plunging into fantastic waters.

A shimmering world lays beyond this portal. It twists, turns and distorts to accommodate our gaze. An ephemeral glance.

Alexey’s abstract sequential art from the anthology is featured at the James Gallery (reviewed here). There will also be a panel discussion on September 12 at MoCCA at 4PM. More information below:

Press Release

Silent Pictures, running from September 1 through October 11 in the James Gallery, will focus on aspects of comic book structure and syntax that do not depend on words to advance an image sequence. The exhibition is inspired by artist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman’s personal collection of wordless comics and graphic novels — mostly black and white rare artist books from the 1930s. The show will feature a selection of these books, as well as more recent “abstract comics,” and a related film program — all of which investigate essential qualities and aesthetics of this hugely popular medium.

The James Gallery is located off the lobby of the Graduate Center at 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th & 35th Streets). Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 12–8 pm, and 12–6 pm on Saturdays & Sundays. Admission is free; for more information call 212-817-7138 or visit http://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/art_gallery.htm An opening reception for Silent Pictures will be held on Thursday, September 10, 6-8 pm.

The abstract comics, compiled by art historian and artist Andrei Molotiu for a just released anthology, Abstract Comics (Fantagraphics Books, 2009), call attention to the formal mechanisms that underlie all comics. Where the earlier art collected by Spiegelman retains a narrative, often politically charged thrust, the comics gathered by Molotiu emphasize the dynamic graphics that lead the eye and mind from panel to panel, suggesting that these structural elements are fundamental to the emotional register of the medium.

The exhibition will also feature a specially commissioned wall drawing by Renee French, a hand-drawn animated film by the British artist team Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards, and a new collaborative project for the Graduate Center’s Fifth Avenue lobby display windows by Gail Fitzgerald and Carl Ostendarp.

In addition, Columbia University art historian and film scholar Noam Elcott will curate a related film program titled “Comic-Film-Strip.” To be installed in a small gallery-within-the-gallery, this program will feature mostly wordless, animated historic films, in which the frame-by-frame narrative parallels developments in the wordless comics that also emerged during the first half of the 20th century. “Comic-Film-Strip” will include selections of films by Emile Cohl, Walter Ruttmann, Norman McLaren, and Robert Breer, as well as a very early partially animated film by William Kentridge. Elcott will elaborate on “Comic-Film-Strip” in a public conversation to be held September 25, 6-7:30 pm in the Graduate Center’s Skylight Lounge.

Stand tall before the gate. Stand and see. One step into the reflection, into the next world. Stand tall and breathe.