World War 3 Illustrated, Issue 1 (1980), cover by Ben Hillman
GRAPHIC RADICALS: 30 Years of World War 3
Illustrated
December 7, 2010 to February 5, 2011
Opening Tuesday, December 7 /
7-9pm
NEW YORK – Graphic Radicals is a 30th
anniversary retrospective of World War 3 Illustrated, an independently
published political comic magazine founded in 1980 by artists Seth Tobocman and
Peter Kuper. Comprised of original comics drawings and paintings, posters,
commissioned murals, documentary film, animation and a complete set of issues,
Graphic Radicals will be the largest World War 3
Illustratedexhibition to date and will highlight the history that the
magazine has scrutinized, documented, and participated in for three decades.
World War 3 Illustrated was first established in
response to the Iran hostage crisis and impending election of Ronald Reagan and
since then has confronted social and political issues ignored by the mainstream
press. The magazine is an annual publication produced by a collective of artists
in response to a particular theme. World War 3 Illustrated has covered
topics as diverse the Tompkins Square Riot, homelessness, first-person accounts
of 9/11, the prison industrial complex, a teachers’ strike in Mexico, Hurricane
Katrina rescue efforts and, in the upcoming issue, the food chain. Critic Lucy
Lippard wrote of World War 3 Illustrated that its “ecological and
social prophecies are coming to pass, and the apocalyptic vision that gives WW3
its desperate force and unique identity is the present."
This retrospective exhibition is the culmination of nearly two
decades of collaboration with Exit Art to bring comic art to a wider audience.
Exit Art was a pioneer in giving art world recognition to the medium of comics
with its groundbreaking exhibition Comic Power (1993). Exit Art
presented an exhibition of original art from World War 3 Illustrated’s 25th
anniversary issue in
2005.
ARTISTS
Mumia Abu Jamal, Penny Allen, Peter Bagge, Isabella Bannerman, Rosie
Bottom, Steve Brodner, Zenzele Browne, Leigh Brownhill, Christopher Cardinale,
Sue Coe, Scott Cunningham, Brian Damage, Eric Darton, Eric Drooker, Kate Evans,
FLY, Susan Greene, Ethan Heitner, Chris Heneghan, Paula Hewitt, Mirko Ilic, Ryan
Inzana, Melissa Jameson, Sandy Jimenez, Sabrina Jones, Kathy Kelly, Tom Keough,
Stephen Kroninger, Peter Kuper, Irene Ledwith, Tom McDonald, Mac McGill, Rebecca
Migdal, Naji-Al-Ali, Ursula O’Steen, Jose Ortega, Maddalena Polleta, Kevin Pyle,
Carlo Quispe, Corinne Rhodes, Spain Rodriguez, James Romberger, Joe Sacco,
Nicole Schulman, R. Sikoryak, Susan Simensky Bietila, Erin Sinefit, Chuck
Sperry, Art Spiegelman, Tenesh, Seth Tobocman,Tom Tomorrow, Teresa Turner,
Lawrence Van Abbema, Marguerite Van Cook, Anton Van Dalen, Edwin Vazquez, John
Williamson, Susan Willmarth, Samantha Wilson, Leah Wishnia, David Wojnarowicz,
WW3 Arts In Action, Micah Ian Wright
Organized by Peter Kuper, Seth Tobocman, and Susan
Willmarth.
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Peter Kuper is the co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated. His
illustrations and comics have been featured in Time, The New York
Times, and MAD Magazine, for which he has written and illustrated
SPY vs. SPY since 1997. He has produced over twenty books including,
The System, an award-winning comic adaptation of Kafka’s
Metamorphosis and Diario De Oaxaca, a visual journal of two
years in Mexico. He was the 2009 gold medal recipient at the Society of
Illustrators for sequential art.
Seth Tobocman is the co-founder of World War 3
Illustrated. He is the author and illustrator of five graphic books,
including You Don’t Have to Fuck People Over to Survive, Portraits
of Israelis and Palestinians, and Understanding the Crash. He has
participated in exhibitions at ABC No Rio, Exit Art, the Museum of Modern Art
and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. His illustrations have appeared in
The New York Times among many other publications and his
images have been used in posters, pamphlets, murals, graffiti, and tattoos by
people’s movements around the world, from the African National Congress in South
Africa, to squatters in New York’s Lower East
Side.
Susan Willmarth has been an illustrator for the past 30
years. Her illustrations have appeared in New York Magazine,
The New York Times, Essence, Ms, World
War 3 Illustrated, AK Press, Writers and Readers, and
Verso, among many other
publications.
EVENTS
Tuesday, December 7 / 7-9pm
Opening Night: Issue #41 Release Party
The opening of Graphic Radicals coincides with the release of
World War 3 Illustrated: Issue #41 – The Food Chain. Copies of the
issue will be available for purchase and artists from the magazine’s long
history will be on hand to sign copies.
Everybody eats … but how do we stop from being eaten? This
latest batch of new comics unearths some of the answers and asks the big
questions about the food chain, our relationship to it and experiences with it.
Featuring work by Jennifer Camper, Sue Coe, Sandy Jimenez, Sabrina Jones, Peter
Kuper, Mac McGill, Rebecca Migdal, Seth Tobocman and many others. Edited by Ame
Gilbert, Ethan Heitner, Sandy Jimenez, Rebecca Migdal, and Edwin Vazquez.
Friday, January 14 / 7-9pm
Picture the Homeless
With artist talks and presentations by Seth Tobocman, Mac Mcgill
and Rebecca Migdal and music by
Eric Blitz and Andy
Laties
Picture the Homeless is a grassroots organization of homeless men and
women who fight to impact and change policies and systems on issues that
directly effect the homeless population such as housing, police violence, and
the shelter-industrial complex. http://picturethehomeless.org
Friday, January 21 / 7-9pm
Friends of Brad Will
With artist talks and presentation by Susan Simensky Bietila and
Peter
Kuper
Friends of Brad Will is a network of activists which promotes
enhanced public awareness about the human rights abuses linked to the “war on
drugs.” In that context, it is working to promote government policies and
actions that result in accountability for the murder, in Mexico, of U.S.
journalist Brad Will; the release of and end to harassment of innocents and
witnesses to his murder, who are being scapegoated with it; and the rejection of
Plan Mexico. http://friendsofbradwill.org
Wednesday, January 26 / 7-9pm
Milk Not Jails
With artists talks and presentations by Sabrina Jones and Kevin
Pyle
Milk Not Jails is a consumer campaign to mobilize New York residents to
support the dairy industry and the long-term sustainability of the rural
economy. It advocates for criminal justice and agriculture policy reform to
bring about positive economic growth. http://milknotjails.wordpress.com
ABOUT EXIT ART
Exit Art is an independent vision of contemporary culture. We
are prepared toreact immediately to important issues that affect our lives. We
do experimental, historical and unique presentations of aesthetic, social,
political and environmental issues. We absorb cultural differences that become
prototype exhibitions. We are a center for multiple disciplines. Exit Art is a
28-year-old cultural center in New York City founded by Directors Jeanette
Ingberman and artist Papo Colo, that has grown from a pioneering alternative art
space, into a model artistic center for the 21st century committed to supporting
artists whose quality of work reflects the transformations of our culture. Exit
Art is internationally recognized for its unmatched spirit of inventiveness and
consistent ability to anticipate the newest trends in the culture. With a
substantial reputation for curatorial innovation and depth of programming in
diverse media, Exit Art is always
changing.
EXHIBITION SUPPORT
General exhibition support provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for
the Visual Arts; Bloomberg LP; Jerome Foundation; Lambent Foundation;
Pollock-Krasner Foundation; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; Exit Art’s Board of Directors and our
members. A portion of this show was curated collectively by Susan Simensky
Bietila, Christopher Cardinale, Sabrina Jones, Rebecca Migdal, Nicole Schulman
and Seth Tobocman. The show originated at the invitation of Max Yela at UWM
Library Special Collections and was assembled by Susan Simensky Bietila with the
expert assistance of Jessica Bublitz, Carrie Leatherman, and Max
Yela.
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EXIT ART 475 Tenth Avenue (at 36th
Street), New York, NY 10018
212-966-7745 / www.exitart.org / A, C, E to 34th
Street / Penn Station
Open Tue.–Thu., 10am–6pm; Fri., 10am–8pm; and Sat., 12–6pm.
Closed Sun. and Mon. $5 suggested
donation.