Conceptual Comics

April 27 to August 3, 2006
PLAN B, a new curatorial space
Guest Curators: AA Bronson and Max Schumann

Curators’ Tour
Thursday, May 4, 7 p.m.

What do Lawrence Weiner and Donald Duck have in common? This exhibition looks at the visual language of popular culture and how it has influenced contemporary artists. 

Conceptual Comics is an exhibition drawn from the inventory of Printed Matter, Inc., the artists’ bookstore located in New York City. Founded in 1976 by artists and art workers, including Sol LeWitt and Lucy Lippard, Printed Matter is dedicated to artists’ books and publications as art for the printed page, and as a democratic form of art-making that accesses art to a broad public, rather than to an economic elite. Printed Matter currently represents some 5000 artists with 15,000 titles.

On the occasion of Printed Matter’s 30th anniversary, the Walter Phillips Gallery presents a survey of over 50 books drawn from the various generations, nationalities, and stylistic approaches represented at Printed Matter. All of the books presented draw upon the history and the vernacular of the comic book, that most democratic of narrative visual media, and one of the primary sources from which today’s most advanced visual books have developed.

- AA Bronson & Max Schumann

For a complete list of artists and works in the exhibition, please email the gallery at walter_phillipsgallery@banffcentre.ca  

All of the books in this exhibition have been purchased by the The Banff Centre. Following the close of the exhibition, the books will be available as a part of the Paul D. Fleck Library's collection.