Comicon North

Article by Rebecca Romani

It’s late on a Friday and the Studio Door Gallery on 30^th is still going strong for the opening of its national Comicon-inspired show, “Strip: Caricature, Satire and the Funnies.” The caricature artist is working on a couple who looks thrilled to be getting mildly caricaturized and someone is busily adding lines to the communal canvas off in the corner. She is concentrating so hard she barely notices people looking over her shoulder.

“Wow,” she says to her brush, “I am loving this!”

And so is curator Patrick Stillman as he moves between artists and guests. “I’m super excited!”

“Strip” is the latest from the relatively new kid on the ad hoc up and coming arts district block that has sprung up on 30^th below University Avenue: The Studio Door.

The show is a fantastic spread of single frame comics and political commentary that runs from the nostalgic to the slightly kinky to the just plain sweet. From oils to lithographs to pencil and ink, the juried selection has an excellence and energy about it that literally pops against the carefully elegant walls and discretely stenciled cement floor. Most of the artists have works in pairs (“it just turned out that way”) and the majority of the pieces seem to be set in running commentaries of subject and/or color.

For Stillman, the show is an extension of a youthful passion for comics and art.

“Comics informed my visual knowledge of art before I learned about the Master painters,” he said. “Comics aren’t fine art, but they inform and inspire.” And Stillman is very pleased that “young people are coming through and experiencing art for the first time.”

Someone else who is excited about the show is solo juror, Javier Hernandez, a comic strip artist and art instructor based in the L.A. area. Hernandez is also the creator of “El Muerto,” an Aztec Zombie comic book super hero turned live action movie that screened at the San Diego Latino Film Festival in 2009.

According to Hernandez, the comic book artist was favorably impressed by the strength and quality of the nationally solicited submissions. It was a challenge sifting through the pieces, Hernandez said, but he also felt “very honored” to have participated. As the sole juror, Hernandez looked for pieces that not only fit the central theme of the show but also demonstrated a high level of concept and execution.

“I was looking for work that said something, with little surprises,” Hernandez said. “work that has something extra.”

The result is a fun, engaging show with a lot of unexpected twists from dark, brooding figures to surprising action heroes.

Front and center are three hilarious and thought provoking pieces by Eric J. Garcia whose “Tamale Man” action hero is seen taking on the fat cats of Wall Street and on a 50’s style comic book cover with subversive language play (“we got an unidentified hot tamale here, permission to engage?” –it’s enough to make you almost spit your horchata…). Garcia’s style plays with history and mainstream iconography, taking on the very un-diverse world of 1950’s comic book covers and Roy Lichtenstein’s (mostly White) story pictures.

Hernandez selected Garcia’s “Tamale Man” action figure as Best In Show for its execution and tongue in cheek construction.

It’s one of my favorite pieces,” said Hernandez, noting that the insulation foam figure even comes with its own collectable box, complete with witty illustrations and instructions.

“I love how he (Garcia) works with classic motifs and political commentary,” Hernandez said.

If Garcia is looking backwards to subvert a retro White comic landscape, Gary Aagaard has got the political present firmly in his sights, using pop culture references to create layers of commentary. Hernandez also singled out Aagaard’s “Cruz Control,” done in oil, as one of the three top pieces because of its powerful, timely political message and the way it plays with classic iconography. The piece shows GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz looking wistfully out of the frame, cast in the role of the Tea Party Fool, a weeping John Boehner his Fool’ staff. Aagaard’s companion piece “The Dulling” is as equally biting as it is surprising. Aagaard casts John McCain and John Boehner as twins from “The Shining”- but with a twist- they want to play war and want you to hang out.

“It’s simple, direct, and I love the faces,” said Hernandez.

Turning from politics to pop culture, Sallie Whistler Martucci has a drawing style Hernandez says reminds him of some of the best New Yorker cartoons. Hernandez chose Martucci’s “Real Housewives Watching Real Housewives of Beverley Hills” as the third notable piece in the show because “I love how the viewers are in black and white and the TV show is in color. The message (about pop culture consumption) is brilliant.”

One piece whose NFS (not for sale) label is sure to disappoint would be collectors is Brittany Ellis’ “Sibling Rivalry,” an arresting tableau of a mixed-race Betty Boop fighting with Little Buddha over what might be egg rolls or fortune cookies. According to Stillman, Ellis’ piece refers to family pet names as well as the dynamics between herself and her siblings. Fun and slightly disturbing, with chopsticks hovering aggressively over the cowering contents of a serving dish, Ellis’ piece “has gotten a lot of attention,” said Stillman.

Two local artists also made the cut. Chris Smith, more of a graffiti style/Skater artist decided to step out of his comfort zone and “try something a bit beyond digital,” said Smith.” Smith, named by The Studio Door as one of 50 artists to watch in San Diego, also went slightly retro, producing a large canvas that would not look out of place as a punk rock album cover.

Local illustrator and photographer, Khryztof contributed one of the most charming pieces of the show, a montage of drawings originally in the form of a book, offered as a Christmas gift to his wife, Elizabeth. Arranged like frames of a filmstrip, each “scene” shows the couple posing in various locales from the mountains to Paris. “We love to travel,” said Khrystof, “so that was sort of my way of putting together our bucket list.”

Also of note is work in the side studios, not necessarily in the show but still pulling from the comic strip/satire theme. Be sure not to miss local artist Dennis Dizon’s multimedia work, which pulls, in part, from his childhood memories of comic books and graffiti in the Philippines.

‘Strip” runs through July 26. The Studio Door is open from Sunday to Thursday, during gallery hours, Please see the gallery’s website, www.thestudiodoor.com for gallery hours. You can also visit www.thestudiodoor.com/inside for more information on “Strip,” as well as read the exhibition catalog.