WEST BEND, Wis., — The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) announced the opening of Wisconsin Funnies: Fifty Years of Comics, an exhibition boasting the state’s rich history of and contributions to comic culture. The exhibit opens on August 8 with opening weekend activities and will remain on view through November 22, 2020.
“This exhibition introduces some much-needed laughs into 2020,” said J. Tyler Friedman, associate curator of contemporary art. “But the works also show the serious side of comics as a medium for political protest and a platform for marginalized voices.”
In conjunction with the exhibit at the West End location, MOWA’s Milwaukee location, MOWA|DTN, will showcase politically themed comics. Works displayed in the exhibits include graphic novels, a comic book commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, alternative newspapers from the 1970s and stories by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s longtime editorial cartoonist Bill Sanders.
In addition, the exhibit showcases a fully illustrated 244-page catalogue titled Wisconsin Funnies: Fifty Years of Comics. The catalogue features more than 150 comic illustrations by thirty-one comic artists and will be available for purchase at both museum locations.
For more information go to wisconsinart.org/comics.