Comic Abstraction

In recent years, a number of artists have transmuted the lexicon of comic strips and films, cartoons and animation into a new representational mode to address perplexing issues about war and global conflicts, the legacy of September 11th and ethnic and cultural stereotyping. From Julie Mehretu's intricately layered paintings, to Arturo Herrera's psychological collages, made by slicing and reconfiguring the pages of Walt Disney coloring books, to Ellen Gallagher's seductively Minimalist paintings, permeated by "blackface" signs culled from minstrel performances, to Rivane Neuenschwander's wiped-out cartoon characters, the world of comic abstraction reflects the intensely personal relationship that many contemporary artists maintain with the political makeup of the world. This publication, which accompanies a Spring 2007 exhibition of the same name at The Museum of Modern Art, presents the first major investigation into the experimental outgrowths of this form of popular culture. This volume features recent work by 13 artists and a selection of 30 large-scale works and installations that bridge the rift between abstract form and social consciousness in ways that are at once critical and playful. It also includes a critical essay, interviews with the artists, and a selected exhibition history and a bibliography. Features work by Polly Apfelbaum, Inka Essenhigh, Ellen Gallagher, Arturo Herrera, Michel Majerus, Julie Mehretu, Juan Munoz, Takashi Murakami, Rivane Neuenschwander, Philippe Parreno, Gary Simmons, Franz West and Sue Williams.