Underground comics enter into art

In my last post I mentioned a cartoon-like drawing trend in contemporary drawing, a trend exemplified by artists such as Mike Kelley, Raymond Pettibon and Martin Kippenberger. Although 'cartoon' like is a reasonable description, perhaps cartoon influenced is a better term. There is a certain crudeness to these drawings, a crudeness that is perhaps an attempt to get closer to a raw authenticity, an attempt to capture how funny life can be, as well as how childish and stupid it can sometimes seem. Bad, stupid drawings that come from a 'punk' culture, a culture influenced by underground comics artists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton or the crude humour of Viz. These artists grew up up reading comics, comic art had helped shape the form and shape of the way they saw and drew the world. They are not using comic images as Pop Art, (Pop artists were more interested in the style) they use the images as a type of urban signature, a way to signify that what they want to say is direct and not mediated by art. Like the comic books that influenced them these artists also put text into their images, text that provides a narrative that can go alongside the images to anchor them into an often deranged world. 
Philip Guston was the artist who changed the game. His 'conversion' from Abstract Expressionism was one that alerted the art world to the possibilities of a post comic book reality. His images of giant boots or Klu Klux Clan members were drawings with a lineage that went back to “Krazy Kat” and were a celebration of that fact and not a critique, these drawings might look like those of a Neanderthal, but they are actually a sophisticated method acting. 

Images above Philip Guston

Martin Kippenberger made a long series of drawings on hotel stationery, his 'hotel drawings', these were done during the last 10 years of his life, a life that had been devoted to pricking holes in the pomposity of modern art. Typical of his attitude was to buy a gas station and rename it Martin Borman. For Kippenberger art faced a crisis and it was one of authenticity. How could an artist paint in an age when it didn't matter to anyone of consequence. In many ways he throws down a gauntlet for any artists who follow him, "go on" he seems to say, "what can you do that's never been done?" Now of course his work is collected and subsumed into the art market, but at the time he appeared shocking in his complete indifference to style, subject or the idea of an artistic coherence. He is well worth researching if you are at all politically engaged and worried about how image making can still be relevant in a time of economic and political crisis. His 'bad' drawings reference everything from comic art to German woodcuts from the 16th century. 

Images above Martin Kippenberger

Mike Kelly was a member of the band, 'Destroy all Monsters' and perhaps his most iconic work was made in 1999, a video in which Superman recites selections from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. The comic book hero taking away Sylvia Plath's voice and replacing it with the familiar tones of comic heroism. Kelly's drawings, (below) reflect a similar sensibility. His style coming as much from S. Clay Wilson and Zap comics as the work of Basil Wolverton for MAD. Look out for a future post on Wolverton and other comic book heroes of mine, I strongly believe that their work is central to the development of our current cultural imagination. 

Images above Mike Kelly

Raymond Pettibon began his career by producing illustrations for the punk band Black Flag, he was the bass player. He makes work that reflects his responses to a wide spectrum of American culture from art to literature, sport, religion, politics, surfers, baseball players, homicidal teenage punks and Elvis. Pettibon also takes quotes from literature and writes them alongside his cartoon influenced images. He cites political editorial cartoons as his influence alongside Blake and Goya. He sometimes publishes his drawings as limited-edition photocopied booklets very like zines and also draws on the walls of galleries, hanging his framed drawings amongst the images he has made directly on the gallery walls. 

Images above Raymond Pettibon

It's hard to escape your childhood. As culture moves on what was current in your growing years can from a distance appear strange and exotic, however because it was at one time familiar it still has resonance, not just for yourself but for others of the same generation. I went to a talk by Thomas Houseago last year, (another ex-student) and he cited Sesame Street characters as being a key influence on his development as a sculptor. What is perhaps most interesting about these artists though is that although they reference comic art modes, their subject matter is very adult. Sex, violence and political comment are always present, the dark underbelly of life recorded using a language that was first encountered in childhood. Maybe this is the language that kids us into engaging with things we don't normally touch. It's edgy and therefore bound to be interesting. 

See also:

Comic book art and theory

The Beano and Viz Hardeep Pandhal 

Narrative drawing

Kaws and Disney

Philip Guston

Drawing and humour

Chad McCail 

Richard McGuire's 'Here'