Robert Crumb - A Chronicle of Modern Times

First major UK exhibition of the legendary cartoonist gives ‘a grand tour of the American unconscious’.

The ‘father of underground comics’, ‘Bruegel of our time’ and ‘non-aligned political crank’ are just some of the many labels attributed to cartoonist Robert Crumb over the last 40 years. In the tradition of earlier social commentators George Grosz and Otto Dix, or English caricaturists such as George Cruikshank and James Gillray, Crumb’s work has shocked, entertained and challenged the imaginations of generations of readers.

The Whitechapel’s exhibition is the most comprehensive presentation to date of Crumb’s career as one of the most influential cartoonists of the last 40 years. Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Crumb never studied art but began drawing homemade comic books and greeting cards from an early age, In 1967, he moved to San Francisco where he invented some of his most enduring LSD-inspired characters, including Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Schuman the Human and Flakey Foont. Crumb instantly became a counter-cultural icon whose sexually explicit satirical cartoons provided a visual expression of the time.

His output since 1967 has been colossal, with the LSD-inspired work of the 1960s giving way to relatively sober, introspective dialogues and biting indictments of American culture.

Crumb remains a highly controversial figure with hard-hitting and politically incorrect work that has provided a hero for marginalized non-conformists. It is his ability to make late 20th century culture as accessible for readers as for critics that has ensured both his popularity and his place as the only counter-culture cartoonist from the 1960s to break into the art world.

Robert Crumb – A Chronicle of Modern Times is curated by Laura Hoptman, organised by Anthony Spira, Curator, Whitechapel, and is an expanded version of the Crumb section of the 2004-5 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. Before curating the 53rd Carnegie International, Laura Hoptman was a curator at MoMA, New York, where she curated, amongst others, Drawing Now: Eight Propositions, 2003, which included work by Chris Ofili, Paul Noble and Kara Walker.

The exhibition is in the Whitechapel’s Upper Galleries alongside Cummings & Lewandowska - Enthusiasm in the Lower Galleries. A specially commissioned edition of The R.Crumb Handbook published by MQ publications accompanies the exhibition and will be its catalogue. Including hundreds of drawings, cartoons and photographs, as well as a CD of music and material from his personal archives, this extended edition contains material exclusively chosen for the Whitechapel. 458 pages.

The Whitechapel’s exhibition is part of a series of events celebrating the career and work of Robert Crumb, including an exhibition at Bonhams Gallery opening on 9 March, a film season at the National Film Theatre from 16 – 22 March and the launch of a T-shirt designed by Stella McCartney featuring an original Crumb design on 17 March.

A limited edition art work specially created to support the Whitechapel’s programmes signed by the artist accompanies the exhibition.

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Robert Crumb - A Chronicle of Modern Times