An upcoming art exhibit will have viewers reflect on the unknown spaces between the known.

According to Nanaimo Art Gallery curator Jesse Birch, the multi-artist exhibit B次元官网网址楪utters are ElasticB次元官网网址� will not only examine the different relationships between domestic and gallery artworks, but will also look at how comics and graphic novels can be B次元官网网址渁morphous and empowering things that donB次元官网网址檛 sit still.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淪cott McCloud, an American cartoonist and comic theorist, talks about what defines comics is that theyB次元官网网址檙e sequential art,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hey tell stories by being in parts, and the gutter B次元官网网址� the space between the comic panels B次元官网网址� is where you, the reader, can insert your imagination.B次元官网网址�

He continued to say that itB次元官网网址檚 up to artists to give the reader as much or as little space to fill in the unknown gutters.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to B次元官网网址� give our viewers as much space as possible to bring their own perspectives into relation with these artworks. But these artworks also come from diverse points of view B次元官网网址� bringing a lot of powerful ideas into their work that people can reflect on,B次元官网网址� he said.

Sonny Assu, one of the nine exhibiting artists, said comic books were a part of his early childhood that helped him discover his love for art.

B次元官网网址淚 spent my summers growing up on commercial fishing boats, and I was always just grabbing comics when I could when coming into port,B次元官网网址� he said.

Growing up in the B次元官网网址�80s and B次元官网网址�90s, Assu said his work is inspired by the pop art-like style of those decades as a method of revisiting aspects of nostalgia without getting B次元官网网址渢hrown into that nostalgic trap.B次元官网网址�

For B次元官网网址楪utters are Elastic,B次元官网网址� he said he intended for his work to reference comics in a more figurative than literal way.

B次元官网网址淏ut it became literal on its own because I actually used comic books themselves,B次元官网网址� he said.

His pieces speak to the B次元官网网址榮peculator boomB次元官网网址� of the mid-B次元官网网址�80s and B次元官网网址�90s when the market became flooded with special appearances and multiple copies of the same issue to create a B次元官网网址渇aux collectibility,B次元官网网址� and when consumers were told those issues would hold value and B次元官网网址渂e worth something in the future.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲hich became fundamentally untrue,B次元官网网址� Assu said. B次元官网网址淪o I wanted to pair them up with this concept of B次元官网网址榯he destruction of wealthB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� which is something that is known of within the KwakwakaB次元官网网址檞akw society B次元官网网址� where we will destroy aspects of our culture and aspects of our wealth to prove how wealthy we actually are B次元官网网址� I wanted to take that idea by destroying the comic books and creating something new.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址楪utters are Elastic,B次元官网网址� which opens on Friday, July 14, and runs until Sept. 24, will also showcase the work of Shary Boyle, Whess Harman, bailey macabre, Cole Pauls, Jillian Tamaki, Momoko Usami and Joshua W. Cotter, and Ronald Wimberly. The exhibit will include a comic-making station, reading zone, and newsstand for local DIY comics and artistsB次元官网网址� editions.

On opening night, a reception will be held at the gallery at 7 p.m., followed by an after-party at 8 p.m. with DJ Nova Jade and indie-rock band Hush Pup.

A free and interactive draw-along event will also be held on Saturday, July 15, at Diana Krall Plaza from 2-4 p.m.

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mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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