Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In recent years a number of artists have transmuted the lexicon of comic strips and films, cartoons and animation into a new, representational mode of 'comic abstraction'. From Julie Mehretu's intricately layered paintings to Arturo Herrera's psychological collages, the world of comic abstraction reflects the intensely personal relationship that many contemporary artists maintain with the political makeup of the world. Bridging the rift between abstract form and social consciousness in ways that are both critical and playful, this exhibition presents the first investigation into the experimental outgrowths of comic abstraction.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Accompanying an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York through June 11, this handsome catalog explores the work of 13 international contemporary artists-including Inka Essenhigh, Arturo Herrera, Juan Mu?oz, Takashi Murakami, Franz West, and Sue Williams-who use comic images abstractly through various materials and techniques of erasure, blurring, and collage. Curator Marcoci's anchoring essay discusses the humorous interplay between cartoons and abstraction as well as popular imagery's power to address current political issues. Like many contemporary exhibits, "Comic Abstraction" does not delve enough into the historical precedents for such strategies, from Dadaism and surrealism to pop; a more encyclopedic look at popular culture's incursions into the art realm can be found in the controversial 1990 MoMA exhibition "High and Low." Also, as the catalog's excellent reproductions and artist interviews emphasize, not all work is equally interesting (though the museum's standards set the bar high). This volume's shortcoming isn't that its topic is irrelevant; instead, it is that its deep relevance for art today is not further developed in its texts and in its art. Best suited for specialized art history libraries.-Prudence Peiffer, Cambridge, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This well-illustrated, thought-provoking exhibition catalog provides a new view of artwork made during the past 15 years by Polly Apfelbaum, Inka Essenhigh, Ellen Gallagher, Arturo Herrera, Michel Majerus, Julie Mehretu, Juan Munoz, Takashi Murakami, Rivane Neuenschwander, Philippe Parreno, Gary Simmons, Franz West, and Sue Williams. Comic abstraction is a dialogue inspired by today's popular culture but with awareness of the history of the practice in 1960s Pop Art. Curator Roxana Marcoci's introductory essay establishes this historical precedent before examining individual artists' contributions. Rather than simply mimicking the forms of popular culture, contemporary artists create more complicated dialogues with their source materials. For instance, Apfelbaum's series inspired by Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls consists only of geometric abstractions made from bright velvet, while Gallagher manipulates original advertisements using drawing and collage. Not restricted to a particular medium or method of installation, artists included in the show push spatial boundaries by using adhesive-based works (Mehretu) or combinations of painting and sculpture (Murakami). A valuable resource is provided through interviews with each artist, preceding plates of their work. Equally entertaining and informative. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty. E. K. Menon Butler University