by Andrea Gottschalk
Boxes are the ruled surroundings of every comic strip and comic book panel, and even constitute the twenty-four frames per second of the animated film. This exhibition reflects the history and development of the comic—strips, books, and graphic novels—and of animation that is, so often, the cartoon come to life. The materials include original art, comic books, graphic novels, volumes of single panel cartoons, histories, and criticism drawn from a major collection recently donated to Penn by alumnus Steven Rothman. Programming includes Charles Burns, artist and author; Arie Kaplan, author; Joshua Mosley, artist; James Duesing, animator & artist; Nathan Schreiber, comic artist; and Signe Wilkinson, cartoonist. A comic book format exhibition catalog presents work by Penn graduate students from John Moore’s 2008 Drawing Seminar.
| Wednesday, February 4 & Thursday, February 5 - James Duesing Animation Lectures | |
| James Duesing, computer animator and video artist, will give two evening lectures. On February 4, Duesing will speak about his own animation. On February 5, Duesing will speak about the history of animation from his perspective as an artist. He is currently a professor in electronic and time-based art at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art. |
Monday, March 16 - Your Inner Fish Comic Contest Deadline
The Penn Libraries is sponsoring a comic book/graphic novel contest inspired by this year's Penn Reading Project selection, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, by Neil Shubin. Create your own comic book or graphic novel inspired by the themes of evolution and change using Comic Life software. Winners will be announced at the April 1st event, a lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Signe Wilkinson.
Wednesday, March 18 - Nathan Schreiber, Comic Artist
While at Penn Nathan Schreiber, '03, created a weekly comic strip, Terrell Quimby, which won the 2001 National College Media Advisers award for Best College Cartoon Strip. He is currently working on Power Out, his first full-length graphic novel.
Wednesday, April 1 - Signe Wilkinson, Cartoonist
The first female cartoonist to receive a Pulitzer Prize (1992), Signe Wilkinson draws editorial cartoons for the Philadelphia Daily News and the comic strip Family Tree. Following Wilkinson's presentation about her career the Libraries will announce the winner of the Your Inner Fish Comic Contest.
