Buenaventura Gallery - Original Comic Art Catalog

Catalog of Buenaventura Gallery exhibition, summer 2003. Self-portraits and commentary on creating and collecting original art by the show's 20 cartoonists. Each catalog includes an authentic piece of trash from one of the show's artists. Introduction by Ken Parille. Cover by Ron Regé Jr. Letterpress printed in 3 colors. Hand sewn binding. 12 pp. 7 x 9 in. Limited to 350 numbered copies, each with an original piece of trash from one of the featured artists. Artists Marc Bell, Ron Rege Jr, Rick Altergott, Max Andersson, Ariel Bordeaux, Jeffrey Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, David Collier, Dave Cooper, Julie Doucet, Phoebe Gloeckner, Kaz, Archer Prewett, Johnny Ryan, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Chris Ware. Alvin Buenaventura's Catalog of Original Comic Art is an enticing letter press-printed limited edition that accompanied an exhibition of artwork by many of today's most prominent 'alternative' cartoonists last July. Smartly, rather than attempting to document the show by reproducing displayed artwork, the catalogue succeeds in becoming a work of art itself, sporting (sometimes brand-new) self-portraits and brief comments by all participants regarding the collection and display of originals. An astute introduction (or 'Prelusion' as the case may be) by Ken Parille lays out the recontextualizing complexities of the original comic page's passage to unique work of art hanging in a gallery. There's also a genuine bit of 'artist's trash' included in every copy, further playing into the collector's quest for the 'original'. - Todd Hignite (review from Comic Art Magazine #3) The catalog is just stunning... I wish I could say I designed it but I didn't. Fuck. If I would have though, I would have wanted it to look just like this. - Chip Kidd, author of The Cheese Monkeys, editor of The Art of Peanuts, Batman fanatic, and designer extraordinaire.