The University of Salamanca declares its “love” for music and comics in the exhibition ‘Underground Vibrations (Vol.2)’, in which, through 800 pieces, including album covers, books, magazines, posters, drawings, lithographs and documents, he deals with “the genealogy of their relationships”.
In the words of the director of the Usal Cultural Activities Department, Javier Panera, curator of the exhibition, this is “the largest exhibition” carried out in Europe since address the “close link” between the worlds of comics and music, especially rock’n’roll, since the middle of the last century. To take into account the sample size, Panera recalled that five years ago it had promoted an allusive project for the Barcelona Comic Fair of which only a third was completed, reports Ical.
The exhibition is divided into several sections arranged chronologically and thematically, bringing together different examples in different media and formats, which “demonstrate that popular music and ‘underground’ comics have nourished each other for more than six decades.”
Among its curious pieces, the exhibition presents works by some of the “pioneers of global graphic design”, dating back to the first album covers made from illustrations which, according to Panera, date back to between 1939 and 1940. Since then, “countless” illustrators and comic book artists have actively collaborated on designing album covers . , posters, clips or even sets for rock concerts.
Panera discussed the evolution of the “underground” concept, associated with comics or any other cultural expression, from the time when it was limited to alternative publishing channels to its emergence in publishing houses. business. In the sixties it was linked to counterculture aesthetics, the hippie ecosystem, the psychedelic revolution, student protests for civil rights, drug experimentation and free love , as well as the musical styles associated with these movements. “In the mid-’70s,” Panera recalls, “they rose to stardom and started getting orders from major labels.”
Starting from these premises, the exhibition attempts to trace a “genealogy of relationships” between comics and popular music from the 60s of the 20th century to the present day, “with emphasis on the moments when rock and band drawn have positioned themselves on the territory. experimental and politically incorrect. Indeed, the title of the exhibition pays homage to the 1970s musical magazine “Vibraciones”, in which certain pioneers of Spanish underground comics published, and to the cult vinyl collection “Andergraun Vibrations!” Spanish Hard Psych and “Beyond 1970-1978”.
Dozens of references
In the exhibition you can see “comics” and album covers designed by dozens of illustrators aesthetically associated with counterculture such as Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Rick Griffin or Alan Aldridge in the 1960s ; Dave Gibbons, Neal Adams, Frank Frazetta, Richard Corben, Joe Petagno, Neon Park, Guido Crepax, Guy Peellaert, John Holmstrom or Nazario in the 70s, Raymond Pettibon, Sergé Clerc, Gary Panter, Gallardo, Ceesepe, Tanino Liberatore or Max in the 80s or Peter Bagge, Joe Sacco, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Jamie Hewlett, Miguel Ángel Martín, Miguel Brieva, Pepo Pérez, Joaquín Reyes or Paco Roca, in the 90s and 2000s; as well as albums with covers and comics featuring musical groups dressed as superheroes, such as Josie & the Pussicats, Kiss, Ramones, Alice Cooper, The Cramps, Gorillaz or Ghost.
“Vibraciones Undeground (Vol. 2)” also explores the spaces of intersection between comics and contemporary art with authors such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Equipo Crónica, Mariscal or Christian Marclay and will also give visibility to young Spanish comic book illustrators and designers. who collaborate with rock musicians such as Montse Galán, Mágico Mora, Clara and Olivia Cábez, Luis Pérez Calvo or Ricardo Cavolo, among others.
