A comic-driven artist, Chris Ware’s cartoonist style is a refreshing take on art in comparison to the past conceptual pieces our class has analyzed. Interestingly, Ware’s focus is on his drawing rather than the text in his comics. He discusses how he develops his comics “simply by using pictures and the sort of internal music of the characters” in order to “communicate just by using gesture and pictures.” Ware’s emphasis on his artwork, rather than the text, emphasizes the power of figures and gestures.
One of the most endearing elements of the Ware’s interview was the discussion on his personal life and its effects on his comics. Ware openly discusses how he “grew up as an only child, emotionally impaired... [He] had never met [his] real father and it kind of lodged in [his] brain like this weakness.” This described weakness is what allows Ware’s comics to be a successful; his personal influences give his comic work a real feeling.
An enticing element of Ware’s interview is that the audience learns Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth is a comic that is representative of “the creation of modern America.” Ware uses his graphic novel in order to comment on American society and what it has become in the modern era. The interview explores this idea in detail. Though I understood conceptual art as a comment on society, Iwould have never guessed comic books (usually read to laugh or entertain) could be insightful sources on culture.
Like Ware, Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein is known for his comic book style. Lichtenstein was one of the driving forces behind the pop artist movement, and his work is still popular today. You can actually see some of his work at the Art Institute. This image from 1979 is titled "Go for Baroque"
I usually do not like pieces that mock politics because I don't really understand politics. However, these images from Chris Ware are wonderfully done to me. I think it's interesting to compare these semi-political pieces to the work of Heartfield. I am more drawn to Ware, but they are two very different approaches to politics through art.
ReplyDeleteI think that comics are an excellent source of insight into a culture/community/society. Take for example the "manga" comics or "anime". Their styles of drawing, the way people look, talk, how they feel, what they do, and how they act mostly resemble the way the Japanese act in real life. There, the men are usually the ones that end up crying, while in American comics, it's the women that are the damsels in distress; so these comics also show different stereotypes that arise in a culture, about a culture.
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