Via our email, the opening for what looks like an entertaining show tonight focusing on dark humor, something which I’m sure we all need a bit of these days. Artists include Ivan Brunetti, Lisa Hanawalt, Tom Neely, and Michael Kupperman. Complete list in the jump.
FUNNY (not funny)
Recent Comic Art Exhibiting Signs of Black Humor
Curated by Ryan Standfest
January 22 – February 26, 2010
Reception: Friday, January 22 6–9pm
The University of Michigan Work : Detroit Gallery
3663 Woodward / Suite 150
Detroit, MI 48230
Participating Artists:
Ivan Brunetti
Chris Cilla
Sue Coe
Lisa Hanawalt
Glenn Head
Tim Hensley
Ian Huebert
Ben Katchor
Michael Kupperman
Mats!?
Daniel Maw
Taylor McKimens
Travis Millard
Tom Neely
Mark Newgarden
David Paleo
Jonathon Rosen
David Sandlin
Rob Sato
Jon Vermilyea
The “FUNNY (not funny)” exhibition seeks to elicit uncomfortable laughter in the realm of black humor—a place where the serious and the taboo are fodder for comic provocation. Artists in numerous media have long sought to overturn convention and challenge what is funny with what is not as a means of producing humor out of the unlikeliest of situations. Work by the twenty artists on view in “FUNNY (not funny)” demonstrates that cartooning is keeping the tradition of black humor alive and flourishing. The very form of the comics page itself is as relevant a vehicle as ever, freed from so many of the commercial restrictions placed on other art forms, to effectively deliver potent images and narratives that carry with them a very immediate and accurate measure of the absurdity of our age.A catalog of the show is forthcoming.
