Jim Woodring & Marc Bell Joint Art Show at Lawndale Art Center; April 22nd

Jim Woodring & Marc Bell will be holding a joint art show on April 22nd, at Lawndale Art Center, in Houston Texas. As an added bonus, Jim will be demonstrating his seven-foot long fountain pen! Find out more below, and here.

Walpurgis Afternoon | Marc Bell & Jim Woodring
Curated by Robert Boyd

Mezzanine Gallery

Some artists record the world, some interpret it, and some distort it. A few, like Jim Woodring and Marc Bell, create their own worlds. Woodring’s world, the Unifactor, features Frank, a cat-like cartoon naïf, whose pets, Pupshaw and Pushpaw, are his fearlessly loyal protectors. The other characters in the Unifactor form a moral universe, where mysterious jivas—a visible representation of a soul—intervene in the daily lives of the characters. All of this takes place in a dreamlike landscape with architecture that is a cross between orientalist fantasias and elaborate wedding cakes. Woodring’s art relies on an intense level of craft, and his love of nib penmanship lead him to craft a six foot nib pen with the intent taking what is usually an intensely private act—drawing with pen and ink—and turning it into a public performance.

Mark Bell’s world-creation leaks freely between his comics and his paintings. Bell’s world is one where “people” and buildings are equally alive (and have feet), where visual information is densely stacked. His work seems to draw equally on Philip Guston and E.C. Segar (the creator of Popeye). His world is genial and inviting, but requires close attention. Bell’s art is the kind that demands the viewer stick her face right up next to it; details are as important (if not more so) as total pieces.

Woodring and Bell represent a certain strain in modern comics—a world of fantasy influenced by childrens books, pre-war newspaper comic strips and illustration, and contemporary art. They are artists who are as comfortable in the gallery as on the page. They are artists who happen to do comics.

-Robert Boyd

Related posts:

1. Jim Woodring & Marc Bell Signing at Domy Books, Houston; April 23rd
2. Marc Bell Art in Mexico City Exhibition, Opening Feb 23rd
3. NIBBUS MAXIMUS: Jim Woodring Unveils The Giant Nib Pen At Gage Academy Of Arts
4. Jim Woodring Documentary, The Lobster and the Liver, Screening at Seattle’s Grand Illusion Cinema, February 11th
5. Power Punch Group Art Show @ Giant Robot San Fransisco; April 2-24