On Friday afternoon, June 2, the exhibition ‘Animals’ was officially opened with the interest of invited guests and Friends of the MoCA.
Ger Apeldoorn and Bas Schuddeboom are the compilers of this new exhibition and took care of the unveiling of the ArtWand in the museum.
Author of the foreword to the luxury catalogue, Thom Roep, received the first copy from the museum’s founder, Arie Korbee.
Thom Roep has been editor-in-chief of Donald Duck for about 30 years and the author of Douwe Dabbert, among others. Comic artists, Irene Berbée and Jan Vriends also received a copy. Just like the aforementioned Ger Apeldoorn and Bas Schuddeboom, both famous comics connoisseurs and authors.
Arie Korbee said that the exhibition, based on more than 70 original drawings, many images and explanatory texts, provides an overview of the important role that animals play in comics….
The museum has been taken over by cats, bears and foxes for an international exhibition about animals in the comic strip. You can see how versatile and unique comic art is as a media form for anthropomorphism. Whether that is because the animals (sometimes literally) comment on the actions of their owner in the margins, or because they themselves are given the leading role, often in their own, almost human worlds.
The exhibition shows what is possible on the basis of major themes. There are animals that are still very close to the fables, such as the talking animals of Jean Dulieu, Marten Toonder, Walt Disney and even the German ‘Fix und Foxi’. Then the animals that have built their own communities in the countryside, such as the many creations of Raymond Macherot (the master of the genre, to whom a special wall is dedicated) and of course ‘Pogo’ by Walt Kelly.
There are even animals that live in their own city, such as the French ‘Canardo’ and the American ‘Fritz the Cat’ by Robert Crumb. Some comic strip makers use animals to comment on the world around them, such as Jan Kruis with the red ‘Je-Know-Wel-Kater’ from ‘Jan, Jans en de Kinder’, but of course also ‘Fokke & Sukke’ by Jean- Mark van Toll. If you want to see this beautiful work (and much more) in person, come and enjoy yourself at the MoCA.