Perhaps best known for his lively cover art on the Fantagraphics anthology ‘No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics’, Canadian artist Maurice Vellekoop here presents his first European solo exhibition cataloguing his work in underground comics and gay erotica. His work is bold, colourful and instantly familiar to anyone with a working knowledge of comics art, which he contrasts with a blunt, explicit depiction of sex and sexual fantasy – using popular archetypes as a springboard to explore eroticism, empowerment and sex-positivism – all scratched from the nib of his lascivious pen. Highlights of this exhibition include excerpts from his ‘Pin Ups’ series and a premiere of his latest work ‘Transworld’, which focuses around a mile-high encounter between a North Korean trans hostess and an Iranian ‘hunk’. This exhibition is presented as part of the Manchester Pride Fringe and the Homotopia Festival.
Fri 15 Aug – Sat 13 Sep, Twenty Twenty Two, 20 Dale Street, M1 1EZ. www.mauricevellekoop.com
- Words:
- Jon Whiteley
- Published on:
- Fri 4 Jul 2014
