The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
by Dan Nadel
Monday, November 30, 2009
PictureBox & Desert Island Present:
The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
Saturday December 5th 2009: 11 AM – 7 PM
Our Lady of Consolation Church
184 Metropolitan Ave.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Free admission
Download the festival program here for a map and schedule.
UPDATE 12/1/09: I’m pleased to announce that Mat Brinkman will be at the PictureBox booth signing books on Saturday.
The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival consists of 3 components in 3 nearby locations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn:
–Over 50 exhibitors selling their zines, comics, books, prints and posters in a bustling market-style environment at Our Lady of Consolation Church, 184 Metropolitan Ave.
–Panel discussions and lectures by prominent artists, as well as an exhibition of vintage comic book artwork at Secret Project Robot, 128 River St.
–An evening of musical performances at DBA, 49 S. 2nd St.
In the cozy basement of Our Lady of Consolation Church (184 Metropolitan), exhibitors will display and sell their unique wares. Exhibitors include leading graphic book publisher Drawn & Quarterly of Montreal; famed French screenprint publisher Le Dernier Cri; artist’s book publisher Nieves of Zurich, Switzerland; Italian art book publisher Corraini; master printer David Sandlin; and tons of individual artists and publishers from Brooklyn.
Featured guests include the renowned artists Gabrielle Bell, R. O. Blechman, Pakito Bolino, Charles Burns, Anya Davidson, Kim Deitch, C.F., Carlos Gonzales, Ben Katchor, Michael Kupperman, Mark Newgarden, Gary Panter, Ron Rege Jr., Peter Saul, Dash Shaw, R. Sikoryak, Jillian Tamaki, Adrian Tomine, and Lauren Weinstein, among others.
184 Metropolitan Ave.
1:00: Jillian Tamaki, Michael Kupperman, Lauren Weinstein
2:00: Matthew Thurber, Ron Rege, Jr., C.F.
3:00: Kim Deitch, R.O. Blechman, Dash Shaw
4:00: Ben Katchor and Gary Panter
5:00: Mark Newgarden, David Sandlin, Lisa Hanawalt
6:00: Gabrielle Bell & R. Sikoryak
The commerce portion of the Festival is partnered with an active panel and lecture program nearby at Secret Project Robot, 5 minutes down the street at 128 River St. This mini symposium will run from 1 to 6 pm and is being overseen by noted comics critic Bill Kartalopolous.
PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE:
Secret Project Robot
128 River St. and Metropolitan
1:00 GARY PANTER & PETER SAUL
Two generations of painters, Gary Panter and Peter Saul, will discuss their shared history, image-making, narrative, and the joys and dilemmas of making difficult work. Moderated by Dan Nadel.
2:00 PANELS AND FRAMES: COMICS AND ANIMATION
Comics and animation operate very differently, yet retain deep historical and stylistic connections. R. O. Blechman, Kim Deitch, and Dash Shaw will discuss the relationship between the two forms with moderator Bill Kartalopoulos.
3:00 BEN KATCHOR
Ben Katchor has chronicled the pleasures of urban decay and other metropolitan phenomena in comics including Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer and The Jew of New York. Katchor will read performatively from his comics and discuss his work in this rare spotlight presentation.
4:00 FLATLANDS: COMICS ON THE PICTURE PLANE
Do comics need a third dimension? Lisa Hanawalt, Mark Newgarden, Ron Regé, Jr., and David Sandlin will consider the tension between comics’ illusionistic worlds and their status as images on a picture plane. Moderated by Bill Kartalopoulos.
5:00 LIVE COMICS DRAWING
In a one-of-a-kind comics drawing session, Frank Santoro will present Gabrielle Bell and R. Sikoryak with a rough page layout based on his principles of composition and design. These two artists will translate Santoro’s layout into two unique pages of comics, live, before your very eyes.
Also: An exhibition of 1950s original comic book art curated by Dan Nadel
PERFORMANCES
Death by Audio
49 S. 2nd Street
Finally, at the end of the day visitors can troop over to Death by Audio at 49 S. 2nd Street, for an evening of musical performances by cartoonists, organized by Paper Route, and including performances by Kites, Ambergris, Sam Gas Can, Boogie Boarder, Nick Gazin, Graffiti Monsters, Dubbknowdubb.
Exhibitors and Artists:
Our Lady of Consolation Church
184 Metropolitan Ave.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
11 AM – 7 PM
Panel Discussions, Lectures & Art Exhibition:
Secret Project Robot
128 River @ corner of Metropolitan Ave.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
1 PM – 6 PM
Musical Performances:
Death by Audio
49 S. 2nd St Between Kent & Wythe
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
9 PM onward
Labels: BCGF, Ben Katchor, C.F., Charles Burns, Dash Shaw, David Sandlin, Frank Santoro, Gabrielle Bell, Gary Panter, Kim Deitch, Lauren R. Weinstein, Matthew Thurber, Michael Kupperman, relentless sales hype, self-indulgence
I just wondered do you have any plans of making audio recordings of these things at all?
Yes, many of these panels will be recorded (Panter/Saul for sure) and then posted here at Comics Comics in the coming weeks.
Saul taught at UT Austin when I was there – He's a really funny and entertaining guy. That's going to be a great panel.
Yeah – he was my professor as well. I have a flier my friend and I drew for our graduation party that he sketched on. Prized possession…
Awesome event even in spite of the horrendous weather!!! It was cold wet, windy and totally worth it to attend. The panel discussions were great and i couldnt wait to come home and start creating some new comics and reworking old ones! GREAT JOB!!!
Check out my stuff at
http://www.extremelifedrawing.blogspot.com
Best NYC con. Period. So much fun on a winter day. No joke. Hats off to Gabe. And to Dan. Wow. What a great show.
Thanks to Bill K too! awesome panels!
Man, it sounds like it was a blast.
Great show! I was honored to be a part of it.
Favorite takeaways so far:
My Best Pet – Noel Frieberg
City Hunter Magazine – CF
The Inner You Tube – Matthew Thurber
P.S. – Asia Dog = The bomb
frank, i expect a full report…
That was an awesome sweet event! I was frozen and soaked to the bone at then end, but it was totally worth it..!! btw the programming was great and I'm sad I couldn't stay to see more panels.
http://subwaysurfer.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post_15.html
I did a short comic based on the animation/comics discussion with Dash, Kim and R.O. I drew this while listening to their lecture.