Cult Fiction: Art and Comics

Cult Fiction experiments with the mutual relationship between comics and art. This exhibition in Leeds City Art Gallery (27th Sept – 11th Nov 2007) links two genres in works where current social and political issues are known as visual narratives.
Comics and graphic novels explore visual language and have been the influence of many contemporary artists who have fused the ideas of a pictorial narrative with word and image. The image I have chosen was produced in 2002 which is significant in the sense that comics now have the ability to influence a wider genre of people than a traditional gallery situation would permit. This is done through the combining of word and image which replicate popular cartoons. These frequent iconic comical themes and characteristics can be seen in Laylah Ali’s cast of bowling-ball headed characters. The works suggest graphic elements from comic book visuals to emulate the suggestive narrative without using words. I would like to explore how the exhibition links the relationship between comics and art and any links there may be between them. She chooses her subject matter, choice of colour and the brushes very carefully when producing her work. Ali’s paintings bear a resemblance to comic-books, however also contain stylistic references to hieroglyphics and American folk-art traditions. She portrays emotional tension in her work through the use of juxtaposing brightly colored scenes with dark, often violent subject matter. Her work speaks of political resistance, social relationships, and betrayal. She explores the way people relate to one another through the lenses of race, power, and politics. She takes her characters for her paintings from everyday mundane attributes like dodge balls, sneakers, and band-aids as well as historically, culturally loaded signs such as nooses, hoods, robes, masks, and military-style uniforms. However her drawings, to which she refers to as ‘automatic’, are looser and more playfully expressive than the paintings. The image has been created using gouache. She tends to do small scale paintings in a wallpaper style with a cheerful feeling however she tends to disguise darker and more complex attitudes of people doing abstract things to one another. I would say that gouache is a good medium to use as it has a matt finish, there is no glare and comic strips do not tend to be shiny. A sketchy, rough and loose gesture is achieved through the use of expressive line. The use of a fine line communicates an animated style and is successful in creating a feeling of movement and action. In contrast to the fine line, there is a scarce use of bold colour; however the select bits are enough to portray the comical, cartoon style. Ali portrays the all-American stars and stripes in this image and in comparison to some of her other images there appears to be no bad guys which could be a political reference to the super power that is the USA. In the history of comic books there are always suggestions of ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’. Many of her figures wear dark eye masks which suggest anonymity and the depiction between the good and bad guys. The primary colours, red and blue generally relate to the style of a superhero which are apparently reminiscent of outfits worn by the ‘KKK’. There is an interesting composition to the painting as none of the figures are touching each other. This suggests a distanced feel and an impersonal relationship adds to a disillusioned fairy-tale fantasy of flying. The general movement of the image is expanding upwards from the two figures at the bottom. It is a triangular pyramid shape giving there some structural composition. The contrast between the light background, the black line and bold colour makes the figures stand out and appear to come off the page. Each character differs from the other yet the style of each is the same. The way the figures have been drawn, one with bent legs tucked at the knees, two with arched bodies sweeping upwards and one in a running-position heading down off the page are all ways of portraying a dynamic sense of movement. There is a clear distinction between male and female figures in the image. This is portrayed through the clothing they are wearing. The image creates awareness around current social and political issues and I think it is successful in challenging the stereotypical attitude towards comics as solely a children’s form of entertainment. I chose this image to analyse as I was instantly attracted to it in the Art Gallery. The animation style of the work has always been an area of interest and illustration is something that I would like to further as part of doing a visual communications degree. Laylah Ali’s work has inspired me to pursue this area in more detail for the future.