Moving to it’s new location in Midtown West, MoCCA has long been a staple of comics and cartooning in New York. This year is no exception with fantastic Fantagraphics special guests like groundbreaking cartoonist and animator R.O. Blechman, and a selection of Wimmen’s Comix contributors like Phoebe Gloeckner. Join us April 2-3rd for a fantastic weekend of comics!
Special Guests
R.O. Blechman
An award-winning cartoonist, animator, and author, R.O. Blechman has been producing top tier work since the 1950’s, earning him an Emmy, BAFTA, and a Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award. Best known for his book The Juggler of the Lady, the animated PBS special, The Soldier’s Tale, and frequent New Yorker cover contributions. His latest release, Amadeo and Maladeo, is a tale of two Mozart-esque half brothers that serves as an elegant and unvarnished metaphor for the hardships contemporary artists still face and that appears to be a universal condition of civilization.
Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Gloeckner began cartooning after moving to San Francisco in the 1970s, and was greatly influenced by the underground comix movement led by artists including Robert Crumb, Aline Kominksy, Bill Griffith, Diane Noomin, and Terry Zwigoff. Her early work appeared in anthologies including Wimmen’s Comix, Weirdo, and Twisted Sisters. Both her 1998 collection A Child’s Life and Other Stories and the 2002 novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures. The book has been adapted into a theatrical production and a critically acclaimed feature film of the same name. She is the recipient of the 2000 Inkpot Award, received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008, and is currently the Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities.
Programming Schedule
Saturday
12:30 pm / Garamond Room
Phoebe Gloeckner in Conversation with Ariel Schrag
Phoebe Gloeckner is the author of two essential contemporary works about adolescent girlhood: A Child’s Life and Other Stories, a collection of short comics, and The Diary of a Teenage Girl, an account in prose and pictures which was recently adapted into a critically-acclaimed and award-winning film of the same name. In this special conversation, Gloeckner will talk about her work with cartoonist and writer Ariel Schrag (Likewise, Potential, Adam, The L Word), who has also taken her adolescent life as subject matter for her work in comics.
R.O. Blechman Spotlight
Multiple award-winning artist R. O. Blechman has enjoyed a robust and singular career, working as an illustrator, animator, art director, studio head, and as the author of books that we can only call “graphic novels,” though they were drawn decades before that category even existed. His classic animation work — including his 1966 CBS Christmas animation, commercials for products including Alka Seltzer, work for programs including Sesame Street, and his feature film A Soldier’s Tale — have been screened at the Museum of Modern Art. His 1953 graphic novel The Juggler of Our Lady was recently re-published in a new edition by Dover Books; his new graphic novel Amadeo & Maladeo has just been published by Fantagraphics. Blechman will discuss his diverse body of work with Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth, and will show rare examples of his animation.
all these lonely lovers, Kramers Ergot fights the good fight and gathers many of the best and brightest together in one giant oversized collection, so that for a few moments you can fool yourself into believing in a reality where “Comics” is vital and powerful, and can still make you shit your pants with laughter. Kramers Ergot 9 will feature the work of Michael Deforge, Noel Freibert, Steve Weissman, Anya Davidson, Stefan Marx, Abraham Diaz, Leon Sadler, Julia Gfrörer, Adam Buttrick, Kim Deitch, Ben Jones, Andy Burkholder, Antony Huchette, Trevor Alixopulos, Antoine Cossé, Archer Prewitt, Kevin Huizenga, Renee French, and many other greats to be announced.