Home › Comics › downthetubes Comics News › London’s House of Illustration to host “Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics” exhibition

London’s House of Illustration to host “Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics” exhibition

By John Freeman on January 4, 2016

Art by Laura Callaghan

London’s House of Illustration to host “Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics” exhibition from next month, running until May.

The Kings Cross-based venue will offer visitor the opportunity to explore the world of comics through original artwork by one hundred women comic creators working across genres and generations – from the 1800s to the present day; from observational comedy to surreal fantasy, challenging biography to subversive dissent.

We Are On Our Own © Miriam Katin

Encyclopedia of Early Earth © Isabel Greenberg

Featured artists will include Marie Duval, Tove Jansson, Posy Simmonds, Laura Callaghan, Isabel Greenberg, Audrey Niffenegger, Tillie Walden and Nina Bunjevac and many more, making Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics the UK’s largest ever exhibition of leading female comic artists.

From their early incarnations as sequential satires and newspaper strips to today’s countercultural zines, webcomics and award-winning graphic novels, comics have evolved into a complex and powerful literary form. Women have been present throughout this evolution, creating some of the most defining and provocative works of the medium.

The Night Bookmobile © Audrey Niffenegger

Becoming Unbecoming © Una

The End of Summer © Tillie Walden

Comix Creatrix presents the work of 100 innovative creators and debunks the myth that women have a limited stake in the world of comics. Highlighting 21st century work by British creators, the exhibition will also recognise ground-breaking works from the 19th and 20th centuries, and will highlight the influence of international practitioners on the British scene.

On display will be original artwork from graphic novels, comics and zines-many seen in public for the first time. It will feature work from acclaimed titles such as Nina Bunjevac’s Fatherland and Isabel Greenberg’s Encyclopedia of Early Earth as well as self-published sensations like Nadine Redlich’s Ambient Comics and many more.

• Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics 5th February to 15 May 2016, 10.00am – 6.00pm, House of Illustration 2 Granary Square, King’s Cross London N1C 4BH Web: www.houseofillustration.org.uk

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.