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Eric Reynolds On May Events At Fantagraphics Store (PR)
posted April 29, 2008
 

April 30, 2008
Media Release
Contact: Eric Reynolds
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 206.524.1967 x218

THREE BRILLIANT ART STARS SHINE ON CONSECUTIVE SATURDAYS IN MAY AT
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKSTORE & GALLERY!

Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery springs into action in May with a
succession of events featuring three of the country's most celebrated
cartoonists and remarkable illustrators. The public of all ages is
invited to join us in an exciting series of exhibitions featuring
Jordan Crane on May 10, Peter Bagge on May 17, and SHAG on May 24.

Los Angles artist Jordan Crane's evocative and bittersweet
meditations on the human condition in comics and illustration have
gained him an enthusiastic following among art enthusiasts of all
ages. His economical narrative observations have been published by
Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books, including two issues of the comic
book series Uptight, and graphic novels The Last Lonely Saturday and
The Clouds Above, recently issued in trade paperback. His exhibition
opening Saturday, May 10 includes exquisite limited edition prints
and original artwork from his comics. The reception, from 6:00 to
9:00 PM, serves as the after-party for exhibitors and guests of the
Emerald City Comicon, where Crane is among the featured artists. The
opening also coincides with the lively Georgetown Second Saturday Art
Attack, featuring art, music and more at over 30 locations throughout
the enchanting Georgetown neighborhood.

Seattle's Peter Bagge is one of the most accomplished and admired
cartoonists in the world. On Saturday, May 17 from 6:00 -- 9:00 PM,
Fantagraphics Bookstore will host the launch party for a line of
skateboards and related product produced by Seattle-based Manik
Skateboards. On display will be the debut of skateboard decks drawn
from the pages of his landmark comic HATE. Bagge's grunge-era
imagery is ideally suited to the skateboarding subculture. At once
hilarious and poignant, Bagge's work of this era went beyond satire,
and helped fashion both the attitudes and aesthetics of Seattle's
only significant indigenous youth movement. In the opinion of
Fantagraphics Books' resident curator Larry Reid, "Peter Bagge's HATE
is the most fully conceived and executed comic book series ever
published." These delightful boards remain as funny and compelling as
his comics of the 1990s.

SHAG (Josh Agle), of Santa Ana, CA, is the Andy Warhol of the new
millennium. His distinctive artwork is characterized by a
deceptively simple fluid line quality and contemporary
interpretations of mid-century Americana. His work is simultaneously
fresh and familiar, drawing on oddities of American popular culture
both past and present. SHAG's imagery resonates with audiences
worldwide, and over the course of the last decade he has become a
cottage industry -- certainly one of the most prolific and successful
artists working today. For good reason. The exhibition opening and
book signing on Saturday, May 24 from 6:00 -- 9:00 PM will feature
work from his new book, SHAG: A to Z, published by Fantagraphics
Books, natch. The book is comprised of 26 original paintings
corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. Each piece is
accompanied by a short verse extolling the pleasures of a hedonistic
lifestyle and the virtues of overindulgence. Join us in welcoming
this extraordinary artist.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale Street
in Seattle's Georgetown district. Open daily, 11:30 -- 8:00 PM,
Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone: A selection of imagery in a variety of
formats is available for publication. For additional information,
please contact Larry Reid at numbers above.

LISTING INFORMATION

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery

Jordan Crane
Book signing and art show
Saturday, May 10, 6:00 -- 9:00 PM
(Emerald City Comicon after-party)
Exhibition continues through May 21

Peter Bagge
Manik Skateboard launch party
Saturday, May 17, 6:00 -- 9:00 PM

SHAG: A to Z
Book signing and art show
Saturday, May 24, 6:00 -- 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues through June 25

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale Street. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108
206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 -- 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM

www.fantagraphics.com