Dave McKean’s “Black Dog” heads to Tate Britain

By John Freeman on August 25, 2016

The cover of Black Dog – The Dreams of Paul Nash by Dave McKean

London’s Tate Britain will host a performance of Dave McKean‘s Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash in November, after the influential illustrator, comic artist, filmmaker and musician delivers another live performance of his incredible multimedia project as part of this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

As Festival fans already know – many having enjoyed the show’s premiere in Kendal back in May – Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash is a live-staging of Dave’s new graphic novel of the same name, the concert performance features projections, animated illustrations, live music and narration and is a uniquely original exploration of the life, imagination and ‘dreams’ of artist Paul Nash.

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

Black Dog was co-commissioned by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival and 14–18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary and Dave has given numerous performances of the show since its Kendal premiere, both in Britain and France.

The performance will be followed by a talk discussing Paul Nash’s use of symbolism and dreams to create a personal mythology of landscape with Dave McKean and Emma Chambers, curator of Modern British Art at Tate and curator of Tate Britain exhibition Paul Nash.

Musical collaborators performing include Matthew Sharp who has performed worldwide as a solo cellist, baritone and actor. Matthew has given solo performances at the Glastonbury and Latitude festivals, as well as performing with many international orchestras.

• Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash 1.30 – 2.30pm Sunday 16th October The Theatre, The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal | Ticket prices £8.00 |Book your tickets here (part of the 2016 Lakes International Comic Art Festival). Please note that the Brewery charges a £1.50 fee per booking for online and telephone transactions. All concessionary tickets are subject to availability

• Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash 2.30 – 5.30pm 13th November 2016, The Clore Auditorium, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG | Plan your visit | Performance and Talk £10 / £7 concessions | Talk £5 / £3 concessions (Talk starts at 4.00pm). When booking please select the price/discount which is for the Performance and Talk, or just the Talk. Book your tickets here on the Tate Britain web site

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.