At a time of eroded public faith in traditional news media, comics journalism has emerged as a powerful antidote to disinformation and fake news. Practitioners in this field cover news or nonfiction events using the framework of comics, re-asserting the ethical value of truth-telling, while at the same time highlighting the subjectivity of news coverage in an immediate and accessible way. As such, the best works of comics journalism stand as compelling examples of how the news might be reimagined as an artistic practice.
Curated by University of Oregon comics studies professor Katherine Kelp-Stebbins, with associate curator and director of comics studies Professor Ben Saunders, The Art of the News is the first major retrospective devoted to this influential genre. The exhibition spotlights original artwork representing over thirty years of reportage by an international group of artists who have developed comics journalism and are pushing the genre in new directions, including Joe Sacco, Gerardo Alba, Dan Archer, Thi Bui, Tracy Chahwan, Jesús Cossio, Sarah Glidden, Omar Khouri, Victoria Lomasko, Sarah Mirk, Ben Passmore, Yazan al-Saadi, and Andy Warner.
Organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon.
*Featured image at top of page (cropped to fit web format, full-size image below): Joe Sacco, page 12 from The Fixer, 2003. Ink on paper, approx. 17 x 22 inches. On loan from the artist.
