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As I've blogged about a few times now, New York's Center for Book Arts is hosting an ongoing exhibit showing off the full collection of legendary alternative manga anthology GARO.
Same Hat reader and cartoonist Noel attended the exhibit opening a few weeks back, and sent along these rad photos from inside the gallery. As you can see, there's a mixture of mounted covers, notable spreads on display, and explanatory notes and writings. The exhibit Garo Manga: The First Decade, 1964-1973 is on display until June 26, 2010.
Just a short reminder, tonight from 6-8pm at New York's Center for Book Arts is the opening reception of "Garo Manga, 1964-1973". The reception is free, and will feature "every issue of Garo, from its first issue in September 1964 to its 120th issue in December 1973." A catalogue of the exhibit will also be on sale in person (UPDATE: And is now available via their online store.)
Have fun, New York people! If you happen to attend and sneak some photos of the event and exhibit, lemme know how it went over email at samehatATgmailDOTcom.
Opening Reception: Garo Manga, 1964-1973
Wednesday, April 14th, 6 to 8pm
Free to the public
Directions from their site:
The Center for Book Arts is located at 28 West 27th Street, between 6th and Broadway. (Broadway is east of 6th Avenue in this neighborhood.)
by subway
N or R train to 28th Street and Broadway
F train to 23rd Street and 6th Avenue
6 train to 28th and Lexington Avenue
1 or 9 train to 28th Street and 7th Avenue
B, D, Q and F trains to 34th and 6th Avenue (Herald Square)
2, 3, or 7 to 34th Street (Penn Station)
by bus
M1, M2, M3, M5, M6, M7, M10 buses
crosstown buses M23 & M34
from outside the city
PATH trains to 33rd Street and 6th Avenue
Amtrak and NJT to Penn Station (34th Street and 7th Avenue)
MetroNorth trains to Grand Central Station, then the downtown 6 subway to 28th Street and Lexington Avenue
parking lot locations
29 West 28th Street, between Broadway and 6th Avenue. Enter on 28th Street or Broadway
6th Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets
101 West 23rd Street, near 6th Avenue
1251 Broadway, near 31st Street
39 West 23rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues
pics are by me, from shopping in Koenji last month
As posted previously, this month in New York The Center for Book Arts is hosting an exciting showcase titled "Garo Manga, 1964-1973". I've just received some details from show curator Ryan Holmberg regarding a exhibition catalogue available for purchase. (excerpt here)
I won't be making the exhibition, but have hopes I might find my way out there before it closes on June 26, 2010. I am hoping that some of you guys will go to the opening reception and in-person discussion with Akin Kondoh and send pics?
Related events at CBA:
Opening Reception: Garo Manga, 1964-1973
Wednesday, April 14th, 6 to 8pm
Free to the public
Artist Talk: Garo Manga, The First Decade, 1964-1973
Wednesday, April 21st, 6:30pm
With Ryan Holmberg and Akino Kondoh, Artist, Illustrator and Author.
$10/ $5 CBA Members
Here are the details on ordering a catalogue from Ryan Holmberg:
For those interested in obtaining a copy of the catalogue of the Garo exhibition, please note the following instructions and the pre-opening discount.
A scholarly catalogue (color, 50 pages) will accompany the exhibition, and is available from the Center for Book Arts for $20. A $5 dollar discount is available to those who reserve and pay for a copy prior to the opening of the exhibition on the 14th (see note below). Payment can be made in person at the Center for Book Arts, or by check, MasterCard, or Visa (NO AMEX). Personal checks should be made out to the Center for Book Arts and mailed to the address below; credit card orders should be phoned in: (212) 481-0295. A shipping and handling charge of $3 must be added to each order.
DISCOUNT NOTE: When submitting your payment information to the CBA, you must mention the keyword "Kamuy." This discount is not available after the 13th of April. For those ordering in advance, you may opt to pick up your copy of the catalog on or after the opening to avoid shipping charges. Please note that you will be doing so upon payment.
The Center for Book Arts
28 West 27th Street, Third Floor
(Located between 6th Avenue and Broadway)
212-481-0295
Exciting news for the East Cost. New York City's unique and prestigious Center for Book Arts will be hosting a radical exhibition on Garo Magazine this Spring. The exhibit is titled "Garo Manga, 1964-1973" and is organized by Ryan Holmberg, Assistant Art Professor and Writer.
Running from April 14, 2010 - June 26, 2010, this will be a must see for any manga fans that can make it out there. From their site:"Garo Manga, 1964-1973" will be an exhibition focused around the renowned manga (Japanese comics) journal Garo during the period of its greatest aesthetic experimentation and political commitment. Garo is well-known amongst comic enthusiasts and historians of postwar Japanese culture both for its challenging of formal and thematic conventions within the field of comics as well as for its engagement with the main political issues of the day, from rightwing incursions into national education policy to Japanese involvement in the Vietnam War.
This exhibition presents the work and development of Garo during this seminal period. The core of the exhibition will be each and every issue of Garo, from its first issue in September 1964 to its 120th issue in December 1973. Most of the issues will either be shelved serially on a book shelf roughly 8 feet from the floor or, alternately and perhaps preferably, each issue mounted serially upon the wall with their covers facing outward. Exhibition cases will be used to display a number of individual Garo volumes open, showing representative moments in the history of the magazine and the work of important artists. In other exhibition cases, supplementary materials will be exhibited, including direct precursors to Garo, a selection of important Garo issues from later periods, other journals inspired by Garo (including Tezuka Osamu’s COM), and issues of Manga-shugi (Manga-ism), a small but important magazine of manga criticism, much of which focused on the work of Garo.
Unfortunately, the exhibit will be opening the week after this year's MoCCA Festival (bad timing, folks!). But this would be a great excuse to stay a few days in New York...
UPDATE!: Ryan Holmberg, curator of this Garo exhibit, stopped by and left further details in the comments. Turns out there will be a pamphlet from the show and in-person discussion with Ax mangaka Akino Kondoh! Details from Ryan: Thanks for posting news of the Garo exhibition. I am happy to see that it is getting some publicity. There will be a small scholarly catalog accompanying the exhibition: a portable version for those unable to visit. Also, on April 21st, there will be a public event, a conversation between myself and Akino Kondoh, an artist associated with Ax (her work appears on the cover of the forthcoming Ax volume from Top Shelf), whose early comics were inspired by early Garo artists like Tsuge Yoshiharu and Hayashi Seiichi. Please attend if you are able. It should be interesting.
The show builds on my dissertation, which was on Garo, focusing on the work of Shirato Sanpei, Tsuge Yoshiharu, Sasaki Maki, and Hayashi Seiichi. I have recently begun expanding the dissertation for a book-length manuscript on early Garo, spanning the magazine’s inception to its transformation into a subcultural magazine in the mid-70s, and treating all the main artists of that period. It will be a couple years before I finish.
As for obtaining old Garo issues: it's super easy and cheap if you are in Japan. Go to Mandarake, the used-manga megastore -- which by the way was founded by Furukawa Masuzo, a central Garo artist in the 70s. If you are not in Japan, still go to Mandarake on the web. They have English-capable personnel. However, you will have to tell them exactly what issue you want. Single issues -- excluding special issues and early issues -- cost between 300 to 800 yen, typically -- that's about 4 to 10 USD. Shipping, on the other hand, will be high.
Thanks again. I hope you are able to make the show. If you make either the opening or the Kondoh event, please say hello.
Doing my periodic digging around on Amazon, I came across some news that I haven't seen posted on any blogs or the Drawn & Quarterly site. That's right, SAME HAT EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS:
Drawn & Quarterly will be publishing Red Kimono by Oji Suzuki on March 16, 2010! This is exciting news for gekiga fans and fits in well with their editorial direction of late; Suzuki was an original broham of the alternative manga scene, and part of the GARO 1-2-3 trio of cartoonists, alongside Shinichi Abe and Masuzou Furukawa (founder of Mandarake, according to the very knowledgeable Bill Randall.
Red Kimono was originally published in collected form in 1985 by Seirindo. Page # and ISBN for the English edition of Red Kimono are available on the Amazon listing.
Oji Suzuki was also noted as a contemporary of Yoshiharu Tsuge, and publishing works often in Garo in the 70s and 80s. Interestingly enough, three Suzuki manga have been published in France already by Le Seuil, details on "Le Kimono Rouge," "Vaste le ciel," and "Bleu Transparent" are here.
For some visual examples of Suzuki's work, check out these pages that Dirk at TCJ's Journalista! posted from a Suzuki manga here when showing off copies of old GARO issues he bought:
A little more information on Oji Suzuki can be found in the Portuguese blog, Ler BD. [English translation via Google here].
Sorry for the lull in posting, friends. I have a list on the wall by my kitchen of posts to write (nine and counting...) but keep getting distracted. Now that we're past Thanksgiving here in the states, I wanted to share a holiday shopping guide for folks heading to Tokyo in the near future.
As mentioned previously with the launch of the Same Hat Guide To Everything (SHGTE!), Nakano Broadway Mall in west-central Tokyo is my favorite shopping area in the world. In addition to stores selling beetles, maid cafes, replica weapon stores, forgotten item shops, and TACO che (the greatest indie/weirdo manga shop in the world), Nakano Broadway is home to a complex of Mandarake shops - 22 individual stores spanning 3 floors! Each shop varies in size, and is dedicated to a different subgenre of manga/anime/toys/fandom. From my trip earlier this year, here is a map of Mandarake, in English:
(click for a giant version of the map - 450k)
You can take a look above and plan your shopping route, specific to your own interests. For me, the greatest shop in Mandarake was the 4th floor shop, Mandarake Maniac Store. There I found a treasure trove of old and rare manga, weird collectibles, an insanely knowledgeable (and rather fashionable) counter staff, and their own in-house manga zine, TRASH. If you're a Same Hat reader, this is the shop for you:
Here are a few shots from my trip earlier this year, of the magical Mandarake Maniacs Store...
Behold the wonder of their stacks! It's a small shop but full to the brim with amazing stuff.
On one wall, there is a glass case for rare stuff and 1st editions.
Lovely and unique books, including a $200 copy of Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi
Incredible! An early, $175 edition of Kage by Kazuo Umezu
Sexy ladies and blue tales.
What wonders are hidden in these shelves? This is where I picked up an old copy of Toiretto Hakase for Johnny!
Oh, I'm sorry... were you interested in every issue of Garo ever published?
Or were you looking for the COM back catalog?
Also in effect, nice & cheap paperbacks of Hideshi Hino classics.
Okay, I can't even keep track of this shit anymore.
There are too many freakin' branches here-- Give yourself at least 5 hours at Nakano Broadway to hunt. SERIOUSLY.
And don't forget to check out the UFO Store, Gacha-Paradise, and the Deep Store (Check the map above for details!)
Have you been to Nakano Broadway or the Mandarake shop in Akihabara? Share your stories or recommendations in the comments on this post. Next up: Pics from TACO che, finally!
I'm working on organizing the 600+ photos I took on my recent Japan trip, and hoping to start posting a recap (with tons of pics of manga, t-shirts and other Same Hat-related oddities) this week. But before that, I wanted to first blog a flyer I scanned today featuring an illustration by Suehiro Maruo.
While at the Tower Records in Shinjuku, I came across a free flyer featuring Maruo's art and grabbed a pile of them. This piece is from a similar set of drawings in the opening section of Panorama-tou Kidan. (I'm hoping to send flyers to folks that buy Electric Ant or win a future Same Hat contest of some sort).
Here is a tour flyer, featuring Suehiro Maruo's cover illustration for the CD/DVD 呪恋 by the band 犬神サーカス団 (Inugami Circus Troupe):
I feel like I've read the name before (also known as Dog-God Circus Troupe online), but never heard their music. For more info you can visit Inugami Circus Troupe's website, or check out their videos on YouTube. Interesting to note, Wikipedia says that "They started in 1994 when Kyoko placed an advertisement in Garo, a manga magazine."
Other album covers by Inugami Circus Troupe include a parody of King Crimson's famous In The Court Of The Crimson King cover, and an album called Panorama of Hell, with a cover illustrated by Hideshi Hino:
