David McKean is exhibiting artwork from his bio-graphic novel Black Dog at Adam’s Gallery in Reigate, from 24th September to 25th October, marking the multimedia project’s tenth anniversary.
Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash was commissioned by the 14-18 Now and The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, as part of a four-year slate of new artworks for the centenary commemorations of World War One. It is a graphic novel, and a live performance piece, covering the life of the British landscape artist Paul Nash during his time as an officer in Ypres, and how his experiences there changed his art and his character.
“He went into the war a young, idealistic, romantic, rather wishy-washy symbolist, and emerged the other side a hardened, angry, expressive and committed socialist”, Dave McKean has previously said. “He didn’t label himself an ‘artist’, he had become a ‘messenger’.
“His calling, to show the people back home what had happened, what the truth of war means to the men caught up in it, to ‘wipe the cant and lies from English life’. And to show how the devastation we inflict on the land, on the natural world, reflects the scars and violence we inflict on each other.”
The upcoming exhibition will feature original artwork from the 2016 publication, and will also include original works by Paul Nash, alongside pieces by other key early 20th-century artists, woven throughout the gallery and Dave’s work.
A reception will be held at the gallery, which previously hosted a number of exhibitions of Dave’s work, including his Dark Carnival project, on Saturday 26th September.
Paul Nash (11th May 1889 – 11th July 1946) was a British surrealist painter and war artist, as well as a photographer, writer and designer of applied art. Nash was among the most important landscape artists of the first half of the twentieth century. He played a key role in the development of Modernism in English art. The artworks he produced during World War One are among the most iconic images of the conflict.
‘When I look at Paul Nash’s work, I always feel like I am watching a dream,” Dave has also said. “They feel like looking at the real world through the filter of his imagination.So many people lock their experiences of war away, don’t want to talk about it – but artists and writers can put that experience somewhere. You can really see that in Paul Nash’s work: his impressions of the people, the landscape and how that reflects the psychology of the experience. I think he absolutely nailed it.”
Opened in 2020, Adam’s Gallery is an exciting gallery located in the heart of Reigate. Recognising a need for a creative gallery space in the town, artists Adam Green and Julie Groves founded Adam’s Gallery to provide a venue at which excellent original art could be viewed and bought.
Adam’s Gallery runs a series of curated shows throughout the year.
Included in the gallery calendar are artists’ talks, workshops and classes.
• Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash – 10th Anniversary Exhibition 24th September to 25th October 2026, Adam’s Gallery, 42A High Street, Reigate RH2 9AT
• For early-bird details and catalogue information, please email: info@adamsgallery.co.uk
• The Adam’s Gallery is live at adamsgallery.co.uk
• To sign up for updates about the Gallery, join their mailing list here
• Buy Black Dog: The Dreams Of Paul Nash (Second Edition)from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
A special edition with bonus material by Dave McKean. Best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, McKean defied expectations with his stunning debut as writer and artist in Cages, winner of multiple awards for Best Graphic Album.
Black Dog is an original graphic novel by the legendary artist based on the life of Paul Nash, a surrealist painter during World War One. The Dreams of Paul Nash deals with real soldier’s memoirs, and all the stories add up to be a moving piece about how war and extreme situations change us, how we deal with that pain, and, in Nash’s case, by turning his landscapes into powerful and fantastical psychoscapes.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
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