The first exhibition announcement for 2024 here at BF with news of ‘COMICS and GRAPHIC NOVELS will (probably) change your life!’ – a new show in South Wales at the Workers Gallery that features a number of Broken Frontier favourites.
COMICS and GRAPHIC NOVELS will (probably) change your life!
NEW EXHIBITION & TOUR: Ordinary/Extraordinary
A showcase of wonderfully eclectic work by artists, comic creators and zine makers.
Workers Gallery, Ynyshir, Rhondda, South Wales
EXHIBITION
Dates: Thursday 18th January – Saturday 2nd March 2024
TOUR Dates: Early March 2024 Venues TBC
Work by Gayle Rogers
WHAT
An exhibition by artists, comic creators and zine makers. Each exhibitor showcases their past and current work-in-progress that celebrates the diversity of the comics, graphic novel and zine maker’s sector.
The exhibition brings the work of 12 creators together from Berlin to Brighton, from Canada to Ystrad. In no particular order, they are: Rachael House, Ian Williams, Rachael Ball, Gayle Rogers, John Cei Douglas, Irina Richards, Myfanwy Tristram, Richard Cowdry, Cai Howells, Hatiye Garip, Paulus Linneaus & Michi Mathias.
Open 4.30-8pm Thursdays and 10.30am-4.30pm Fridays and Saturdays or at other times by appointment. Free entry.
BACKGROUND
‘It’s a ‘not to be missed’ show for those who love comics but it is really aimed at enticing the sceptical or curious to dip their toes into the pages of their first zine or graphic novel. There is a vibrant collective of indie creators and publishers out there – creating wonderfully engaging work that might just change your life’.
Dr Gayle Rogers: Resident Artist & Gallery Manager, Workers Gallery
Work by Ian Williams
WHY COMICS?
‘Historically, comics creators have regularly been exploited by those who profit from their work, and we’ve grown accustomed to accepting appalling terms in order to keep doing what we love. While the multi-billion-dollar industries of film and TV continue to draw on comics as their source material, their progenitors are neglected. These issues and the others inextricably linked to them affect every single person working in comics today, and ultimately have a say in who gets to tell their story and to whom. So. If you wanted to change the comics industry, where would you even begin?’
The Audience Agency. Hannah Berry – Comics Laureate UK Comics Creators Research Report 2020 (page 7)
‘When I read this (and took in what the report was saying as a whole) I thought – where could I begin? Well – I run a gallery. I make comics. I love comics. So that is where I began.
So the Workers Gallery now has
- A free to use Graphic Novel and Zine Community Library
- A zine and graphic novel bookshop and
- We are exhibiting our first group show by comics creators, sequential art artists, graphic novelists and zine makers – Ordinary/Extraordinary.
The title emphasises the eclectic nature of this creative sector. It showcases what we could call ordinary everyday stories alongside extraordinary narratives of imagined worlds, profound experiences and life-affirming adventures.
We’re humbled and excited to be able to bring the work of these acclaimed creatives to the South Wales valleys; support their work by promoting and sharing it with new audiences.
We know comics, graphic novels and zines are often an overlooked artform, dismissed as ‘just for children’ or ‘frivolous’ but this show challenges those preconceptions. The work here explores imagined worlds alongside critical and current issues. These include stories of defiance and protest, experiences of the UK’s healthcare system and zombies!’ – Dr Gayle Rogers: Resident Artist & Gallery Manager, Workers Gallery
TOURING
In March the show will be toured by cargo e-bike to non-art venues across the local valleys as part of the ongoing Workers Gallery’s ‘Art In A Box’ Touring Initiative. Venues will include community spaces and the homes of those unable to visit the gallery.
‘We are especially keen to visit non-art venues to expand the reach of the exhibition to as many people as we can. We know the engaging power of comics, graphic novels and zines can have and we want more people to benefit from reading the stories and experiences of others.’
Dr Gayle Rogers: Resident Artist & Gallery Manager, Workers Gallery
