Art Spiegelman, Barbican and Nobrow select best jazz-themed wordless comics

In partnership with this year’s ELCAF, organised by Nobrow, the Barbican invited artists, graphic designers and illustrators to design a wordless comic. The theme for submissions was jazz, to coincide with the Barbican’s Wordless! event today with Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Art Spiegelman as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.

The winner was London-based artist Peter Cline’s comic International Sweethearts of Rhythm, which tells the story of feminist writers in the 70s that prompted the recognition of the 1940s band of the same name, the first integrated all-women band in the US.

A notable mention went to Emile Holmewood’s Jazz Salad, a minimalist, pastel-toned comic of geometric shapes. “I wanted to break Jazz down into a few basics: Instruments, ingredients/notes, recipe/song and repetition. Then in a synesthesia type way create abstract compositions that try to create a feeling of music that correlates to making salad.”

Runners-up were Marta Cubeddu’s comic, inspired by what she imagines when listening to the Paolo Conte song Sotto le stelle del Jazz; and monochromatic pieces by Marc Toussain and Ben Connors.

“The shortlisted entires showed very sophisticated graphic design skills – playful, a bit difficult to ‘decode’, but ultimately rewarding to engage with,” says Art Spiegelman. “I was especially impressed with the winning piece’s challenging and ambitious narrative complexity. Bravo.”

Wordless! takes place on 11 November at 7:30pm in the Barbican hall.