The Scott Eder Gallery in Jersey City has a super cool show opening tonight;  Graphic Alt Comics with art by Gabrielle Bell, Tommi Parrish, Mary Fleener, Powerpaola, Trina Robbins, Conxita Herrero, Lauren Weinstein and Gina Wynbrandt.

It’s a fantastic mix of groundbreaking veteran cartoonists and some of today’s hottest stars, co-curated by agent Alessandra Sternfeld.

Tonigths opening runs from 5-9, but the gallery will also be open for the Mana Contemporary open house April 29th, 1-7 PM

You can see the an online preview of the show here. The art above is by Mary Fleener, a stalwart of 80s and 90s alt comix and still going strong today with persnal projects and commercial work.

fleener.png

The Scott Eder Gallery is extremely proud to present an eclectic compendium of alternative art by non-male creators, showcasing artists from around the world and throughout the modern history of comics. Please join us for an opening reception for this special show! Several of the represented artists will be in attendance.
On view will be a curated selection of art from each creator, including a some amazing pieces byTrina Robbins, the doyenne of comix’s women artists and the editor of 1971’s important underground anthology All Girl Thrills. An inductee into the Eisner Hall of Fame, Robbins has flourished in the underground art and music lifestyle of New York and San Francisco for decades, gathering numerous awards, editing, writing and contributing to dozens of publications, both in comics and nonfiction. A co-founder of Friends of Lulu (which from 1994-2011 helped encourage women comic artists through publishing, awards, and support), she was also the first femaleWonder Woman artist.
Mary Fleener, another grande dame of the comix scene, hails from Southern California, and much of her work –Slutburger; Life of the Party– is based on her experiences in the SoCal lifestyle and politics. Her stories or “autobiographix,” as she calls them, have been published inWeirdo, Twisted Sisters and Wimmen’s Comix, plus she’s done illustrations for Entertainment Weekly and other mainstream publications. Mary also fronts The Wigbillies, a rock and blues band.
Lauren Weinstein has published three books: Girl Stories, Inside Vineyland and Goddess of War. Her work has been included in The Best American Comics, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Kramer’s Ergot, and The Graphic Canon, and her illustrations have appeared in Nautil.us, The New York Times, Glamour, and The Paris Review. Her webcomic Carriers won The Society of Illustrators’ gold medal and was shortlisted for Slate’s Cartoonist Studio Prize, as was Normel Person, her comic strip published in The Village Voice. Lauren is also a mom, a teacher at SVA, and the lead singer of the band Flaming Fire. She’s currently at work on a memoir about her teen years.
Powerpaola, a Colombian/Ecuadorian cartoonist, is a member of Chicks on Comics, an international feminist group that uses cartooning as a way to promote cultural diversity and the exchange of dialogue, and explore the irony of gender issues in comics. Her work deals with themes of sexuality, feminism, family, and personal identity. Virus Tropical, her 2011 graphic novel set amidst a family of women in Colombia, has now been made into a film. Other works include Por Dentro (2012), Diario (2013), qp (2014) and Todo Va a Estar Bien (2015). She is the comics editor of Arcadia, a Colombian magazine.
Gina Wynbrandt’s first book, Someone Please Have Sex With Me was featured in The Best American Comics, and so has her comic Big Pussy (also an Ignatz award nominee). Other minicomics include I’m Funnier Than Your Girlfriend And I Have Fewer Sexual Limits: Let Me Make My Case (2015), Tiger Beat Exclusive (2013), and One Less Lonely Girl (2012). A Chicago native, Gina loves sitcoms, teen pop stars, makeup, the Internet, and being the center of attention.
Conxita Herrero, a rapidly rising newcomer from Spain, has received critical praise for her workGran Bola de Helado (Big Ball of Ice Cream; 2016), a set of 17 short stories that work together as a whole. As Lucy Bourton has written, “The true charm in Conxita’s illustrations is her ability to convey a mood or subject in the simplest of drawings…(it’s) personable in how uncomplicated it is. Stylistically, Conxita uses a varied color palette to display her own egocentricities. Minty greens are placed next to pale pinks, and rather than applying texture to represent clothing, she draws neat lines to depict jeans or the pleats in a shirt.” She also writes poems, makes fanzines and performs in the musical group Tronco with her brother.
Tommi Parrish’s graphic novel The Lie and How We Told It (Fantagraphics) delves into the complexity of relationships through lush, fully painted pages. The publisher calls it “a remarkably resonant work from an exciting new voice.” Perfect Hair, their debut book, also addresses relationships, loneliness, identity and body politics. Tommi hails from Melbourne, Australia, currently resides in Montreal, and is the art editor of The Lifted Brow, an Australian literary magazine. Their work has also appeared in various anthologies, magazines, minicomics, and gallery shows.
Gabrielle Bell’s first full-length graphic memoir, Everything is Flammable, was published in 2017 to much critical acclaim. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) called it “A provocative, moving, and darkly funny book that seems almost worth the crises that it chronicles.” Born in England and raised in California, Gabrielle began to collect her “Book of” miniseries (Book of Sleep, Book of Insomnia, Book of Black, etc), which resulted in When I’m Old and Other Stories, published by Alternative Comics. In 2001, she moved to New York and released her autobiographical seriesLucky, published by Drawn and Quarterly. Her work has been selected for the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Best American Comics and the Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction, and Gabrielle has contributed to McSweeney’s, Bookforum, The Believer, and Vice Magazine. The title story of her book, Cecil and Jordan in New York, has been adapted for the film anthology Tokyo! by Michel Gondry. Bell’s graphic novel, The Voyeurs, was named one of the best books of the year byPublishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and The Atlantic.
For more information, images or interviews, please contact the gallery at 201-630-4931.
The show continues through June 2nd

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR