Great new show highlights the work of 100 women making comics

Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics , which opens tomorrow at the House of Illustration, spans work from the 1800s to the present day. Curated by Paul Gravett and HOI curator Olivia Ahmad, the exhibition is designed according to theme – including key work from the counterculture, personal histories, sci/fi fantasy and newspaper strips. The show opens with a brief introduction to the production and history of comics from William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, through sequential satires up to the recognition of comics artists as graphic novelists before introducing the women key to that history. There’s an incredible amount of aesthetically and thematically varied work, shown predominately as original drawings. The story-telling is everything from hilarious and surreal to affecting and political, and the joy of the show is in its ability to appeal to people of any age, or degree of familiarity with reading comics.

Particular highlights include the work of Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Alison Bechdel’s Fun House: A Family Tragicomic and Horizontal Press’ Tijuana Bibles which we covered on the site last year. The exhibition recognises key British artists such as Posy Simmonds, Simone Lia and Marie Duval as well as international practitioners Tove Jansson, Nina Bunjevas and Audrey Niffenegger amongst many others.