Entry:
Between free and £10.50 depending on where you fit into the British
Library's hierarchy of concessions
The British Library currently has an exhibition on British comic writers and artists called Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK. I went last weekend and have been grappling with this review for the last week. The experience was actually very reminiscent of the Barbican's animation exhibition: a high entry fee, material arranged thematically and a superficial look at the subject. Again, I went in with high expectations, (Dave McKean was the art director!), but overall I was a bit disappointed.
The exhibition is divided into six themed sections, each of which contains material arranged more or less chronologically. There were some interesting artefacts, including scripts and rough sketches from some very famous comics, and of course, the British Library always gets the opportunity to show off some of its treasures in exhibitions like this. Did you know the British Library has a book written by Elizabethan magician/mathematician John Dee? I didn't! (If you're wondering how this fits into an exhibition on comic books, maybe this could be an informative show for you?)
This is a subject that I already know a lot about though. I went in expecting revelations, or at least a new context to the knowledge that I did have – a more in-depth history of British comics – but I didn't really get that. There were a couple of comics I wanted to check out after seeing them in the show. There was a lot that I was already familiar with. I sound really down on this exhibition so perhaps I should add that the person I went with did enjoy it.
One final note, many of the exhibits are set a bit too far back from the glass to be read easily and as a result some people seem to be unable to resist the temptation to smear their hands and face all over the glass in order to get a better view. This is gross, but understandable. Less understandable is the fact that the glass was already filthy when the exhibition opened at 11am on Sunday. Why wasn't it cleaned on Saturday night or even on Sunday morning? Get it together, British Library – nobody needs greasy hand- and faceprints obscuring the exhibits.
The British Library currently has an exhibition on British comic writers and artists called Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK. I went last weekend and have been grappling with this review for the last week. The experience was actually very reminiscent of the Barbican's animation exhibition: a high entry fee, material arranged thematically and a superficial look at the subject. Again, I went in with high expectations, (Dave McKean was the art director!), but overall I was a bit disappointed.
The exhibition is divided into six themed sections, each of which contains material arranged more or less chronologically. There were some interesting artefacts, including scripts and rough sketches from some very famous comics, and of course, the British Library always gets the opportunity to show off some of its treasures in exhibitions like this. Did you know the British Library has a book written by Elizabethan magician/mathematician John Dee? I didn't! (If you're wondering how this fits into an exhibition on comic books, maybe this could be an informative show for you?)
This is a subject that I already know a lot about though. I went in expecting revelations, or at least a new context to the knowledge that I did have – a more in-depth history of British comics – but I didn't really get that. There were a couple of comics I wanted to check out after seeing them in the show. There was a lot that I was already familiar with. I sound really down on this exhibition so perhaps I should add that the person I went with did enjoy it.
One final note, many of the exhibits are set a bit too far back from the glass to be read easily and as a result some people seem to be unable to resist the temptation to smear their hands and face all over the glass in order to get a better view. This is gross, but understandable. Less understandable is the fact that the glass was already filthy when the exhibition opened at 11am on Sunday. Why wasn't it cleaned on Saturday night or even on Sunday morning? Get it together, British Library – nobody needs greasy hand- and faceprints obscuring the exhibits.
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