Dave McKean Talk at London’s House of Illustration

By John Freeman on June 19, 2016

Black Dog – The Dreams of Paul Nash - Sample Art 5

Join legendary illustrator, filmmaker and musician David McKean as he talks to the Observer’s Rachel Cooke and Imperial War Museum curator Richard Slocombe about his astonishing new graphic novel and performance, Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash at London’s House of Illustration on 13th July 2016.

Launched last month, this 14-18 NOW/ Lakes International backed multimedia project returns to Kendal in October for the annual Comics Festival weekend. The Dark Horse edition of the graphic novel that is the focus of the work will also be published in October.

Tickets for the Festival performance go on sale from 1st July from Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre.

Artist Paul Nash joined the British army when he was 25 years old, signing up six weeks after the start of the First World War. The appalling experiences he endured, first as a soldier and later as an official war artist, prompted him to create paintings of disturbing, lasting power. Commissioned by 14-18 NOW, Dave McKean has created a major new work inspired by Nash and the artist’s nightmarish depictions of war and its psychological effects.

Rachel Cooke is an acclaimed author, journalist at The New Statesman and the Observer. She is the Observer’s graphic novel reviewer and a judge of the annual Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica graphic short story prize.

Richard Slocombe is Senior Curator of Art at Imperial War Museum. He is IWM’s specialist on British First World War art, wartime poster design and graphic art and has researched, written and lectured widely on these subjects. He most recently co-curated the Peter Kennard retrospective, ‘Unofficial War Artist’.

Black Dog – The Dreams of Paul Nash by Dave McKean has been co-commissioned by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, On a Marche sur la Bulle and 14-18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The commission is also supported by Cumbria County Council, Kendal College, Kendal Business Improvement District and South Lakeland District Council.

• More information on Dave’s London talk here on the House of Illustration website

• More about the Lakes International Comic Art Festival at www.comicsrtfestival.com

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.