At the crossroads of fiction and memory, of cheap sensation and horror, lies the dark world of American graphic novelist and illustrator Charles Burns (Washington, °1955). His stories are populated with clichéd characters from comic books: know-it-all children, sinister scientists, tough-as-nails detectives and horny teenagers. Burns rearranges them into disturbing yet funny patterns. The atmosphere of his comic books ranges from kitschy nostalgia to disconsolate horror. Themes such as adolescence and sexual awakening are combined with constantly recurring images of mutation, plague, alienation and violence.
New trilogy
Burns worked for ten years on what was to become his magnum opus, Black Hole. It was published in Dutch under the title Zwart gat. It is pure horror, but also an impressive graphic novel that effortlessly captures the emotional life of teenagers. His new book X is the first part of a trilogy, and among other things, is a tribute to Hergé, the creator of Tintin.
Most people know Charles Burns as a comic book artist who integrates pop art and pop culture into his comics. His work as an illustrator is less known. Among other things, he has made photos, illustrations, record sleeves and films. His work, which was first discussed in RAW, Art Spiegelman’s magazine, includes a range of exceptional comic books and projects, from album covers for Iggy Pop to the latest advertising campaigns for Altoids and the ill-fated OK Soda (accomplished with a fellow colleague Fantagraphics cartoonist Daniel Clowes). He designed the set for Tsjaikovski's The Nutcracker (retitled The Hard Nut). The world premiere and entire production was created at La Monnaie in Brussels, and premiered in January 1991. He has also illustrated covers for Time, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine.
You can discover the versatility of Burns’ work at M in the winter of 2011. The exhibition is being organised by Beeld Beeld. They have previously organised comic strip exhibitions of the work of Ever Meulen, Dupuy & Berberian, Schuiten & Peeters, Dave McKean, Mattotti, José Muñoz and Hanco Kolk. The exhibition will present more than 200 works created by Burns, including original printing plates of Black Hole and his new book X, as well as sketches and illustrations for magazines and books made over the past thirty years.
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