‘Who's Afraid of Cartoony Figuration?' is serious fun at Dallas Contemporary

Cartoons are more than child’s play at Dallas Contemporary’s exhibition, Who’s Afraid of Cartoony Figuration?, now on view through Sept. 22.

The multi-dimensional exhibition fuses the light-heartedness of cartoons, comics, and commercial illustration with today’s most important socio-political subjects. The combination is a powerful way to explore social complexities.

“Cartoony language--whether done by an artist for a painting or for a TV show--is accessible, legible and non-threatening.  otherwise, association with childhood and playfulness, cartoony figuration is an excellent formal vehicle for communication, especially when the messages or narratives would otherwise be complicated or alienating for the viewer. I think that the various subjects, identities and issues that the artists address can be digested and engaged with in a manner that is much more inclusive than more traditional forms of representation such as documentary,” said Alison M. Gingeras, Adjunct Curator and this exhibition’s curator.

The exhibition features the works of Karolina Jabłońska, Sally Saul, Tabboo! and Umar Rashid. The artists draw on the history of cartoony figuration, a genre that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s with the Chicago Imagism movements.

“I would argue that beginning in the postwar period, artists began to mine popular culture and the comix form as a visual language to convey complex ideas--and many of the artists in this show are very knowingly influenced by those artists, whether we are talking about Philip Guston's works that addressed the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1960s, or Robert Colescott making works about his complex racial identity and systemic racism in America, or the work of the Chicago Imagists--particularly the women artists like Gladys Nilsson and Christina Rahmberg. This DNA is present in all four artists' work,” Gingeras said.

The artists use their particular strengths to spark conversation, contemplating identity, racism, and feminism.

“Karolina Jabłonska is a strong voice for a new generation of feminist artists coming from Eastern Europe. The gendered spaces and political issues she addresses in her work, both directly and allegorically, have been particularly crucial in Poland, where the government over the past ten years has passed some seriously misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ laws. There is a real urgency in her work and in the generation that she represents,” Gingeras said.

Rashid re-evaluates history.

“Umar Rashid is a polymathic storyteller who has incredible erudition of world history that he transforms into playful yet subversive anti-colonial, anti-racist messages. His revisionist histories of the American Empire challenge what most of us learn in school about the history of our country, and his visual storytelling reflects the potential for a multiracial, anti-imperialist society,” Gingeras said.

Tabboo’s work highlights his own community.

“Tabboo! is a gay artist and performance artist who was part of the New York queer underground from the late 1970s onwards. His paintings are disarming in their charm and humor, though a real struggle is recorded in his work that reflects the AIDS crisis and the long, hard-fought battle for LGBTQ rights in this country, beginning with the bohemian underground,” Gingeras said.

Saul’s ceramics add another dimension to cartoony figuration. 

“Sally Saul is the most senior artist in the show, and her work also contains a sly feminism as well as a poetic take on everyday life, mythology, and popular culture. As the wife of a famous artist, Peter Saul, she was often relegated to his success and recognition — plus, she works in ceramics, which has always, in traditional circles, been considered a ‘lesser’ medium than painting or more serious sculpture. She defies all of these strictures and negative assumptions to make a joyful, biting, and surprising body of work that deserves deeper recognition in its own right,” Gingeras said.

With the witty playfulness of these artists’ work, there’s nothing to fear about cartoony figuration.

“There is a complex humanism that emerges from this ensemble of four different artists coming from very different geographies and generations. I think the cartoony language they share is a legible and hopefully less intimidating way of inviting the viewer to consider the subjects and perspectives that each artist proposes. Each visual story invites empathy and connection, hopefully highlighting specific socio-political issues or identities and allowing us to see the commonalities we all share in our humanity,” Gingeras said.

Learn more: Dallas Contemporary