crumb_genesis

"The Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles) presents seminal comic artist R. Crumb’s adaptation of the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. Crumb has spent the last five years on this incredibly ambitious endeavor. The exhibition features 207 individual, black and white drawings incorporating every word from all fifty chapters, as well as a cover, title page, introduction and back cover. Each drawing contains six to eight comic panels illustrating the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, and more. Using his signature bawdy style, Crumb’s version of the Book of Genesis puts an entirely new twist on the Bible.

"Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Crumb began drawing comics as a young boy, influenced by his older brother Charles. In the early 1960s he drew cards for the American Greetings Corporation and in the late 1960s he traveled to New York, Chicago, and Detroit and created many of his rambunctious and unforgettable characters including Mr. Natural, Mr. Snoid and Angelfood McSpade. In 1967, he moved to San Francisco and later that year he drew Zap #1 and Zap #0 and sold them on the street, which marked the beginning of his role as one of the founding fathers of the underground comic movement. In the last months of 1969, Crumb received a $10,000 advance from Ballantine Books for a Fritz the Cat book, but he later killed the character, dissatisfied for its portrayal on film. Crumb’s Mr. Natural strip ran in The Village Voice for about a year (later compiled as Mr. Natural #3), and in 1981, he produced and edited a new comic magazine called Weirdo which included the work of other artists. By the end of the 1980s, Crumb and his wife, Aline, relocated to the south of France, where they live and work today" (Hammer Museum).

The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb's Book of Genesis will be on view through February 7, 2010.

crumbchapter1

You can also buy a copy of The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, with a handwritten introduction by the artist, edited by Robert Weil, and published by W.W. Norton. The hardcover catalogue is 224 pages and was released October 19, 2009.

For an entertaining cinematic portrait of this controversial and very distinctive artist we suggest the 1994 documentary entitled Crumb.

posted by: Harold Johns III

" />R. Crumb Illustrates The Book of Genesis | The Rathaus

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R. Crumb Illustrates The Book of Genesis

November 2, 2009 Art, culture, The Rathaus

crumb_genesis

“The Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles) presents seminal comic artist R. Crumb’s adaptation of the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. Crumb has spent the last five years on this incredibly ambitious endeavor. The exhibition features 207 individual, black and white drawings incorporating every word from all fifty chapters, as well as a cover, title page, introduction and back cover. Each drawing contains six to eight comic panels illustrating the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, and more. Using his signature bawdy style, Crumb’s version of the Book of Genesis puts an entirely new twist on the Bible.

“Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Crumb began drawing comics as a young boy, influenced by his older brother Charles. In the early 1960s he drew cards for the American Greetings Corporation and in the late 1960s he traveled to New York, Chicago, and Detroit and created many of his rambunctious and unforgettable characters including Mr. Natural, Mr. Snoid and Angelfood McSpade. In 1967, he moved to San Francisco and later that year he drew Zap #1 and Zap #0 and sold them on the street, which marked the beginning of his role as one of the founding fathers of the underground comic movement. In the last months of 1969, Crumb received a $10,000 advance from Ballantine Books for a Fritz the Cat book, but he later killed the character, dissatisfied for its portrayal on film. Crumb’s Mr. Natural strip ran in The Village Voice for about a year (later compiled as Mr. Natural #3), and in 1981, he produced and edited a new comic magazine called Weirdo which included the work of other artists. By the end of the 1980s, Crumb and his wife, Aline, relocated to the south of France, where they live and work today” (Hammer Museum).

The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis will be on view through February 7, 2010.

crumbchapter1

You can also buy a copy of The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, with a handwritten introduction by the artist, edited by Robert Weil, and published by W.W. Norton. The hardcover catalogue is 224 pages and was released October 19, 2009.

For an entertaining cinematic portrait of this controversial and very distinctive artist we suggest the 1994 documentary entitled Crumb.

posted by: Harold Johns III

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