Posted in: Recent Updates | Tagged:


Rude Britannia: British Comic Art At Tate Britain

Rude Britannia: British Comic Art At Tate Britain

So this is where I'll be taking the kids this weekend. Tate Britain, normally the more staid, less exciting, stuck-in-its-ways elder brother to Tate Modern, is running an exhibition on the more bawdy side of British comic art. From Hogarth to Scarfe, from Punch to Viz Comic, from Spitting Image to David Shrigley.

Rude Britannia: British Comic Art At Tate Britain

The first room, British Comic Art, explores the British comic from the seventeenth century to the modern day, from Hogarth to Leo Baxendale to David Shrigley. The second, Social Satire And The Grotesque, curated by Viz Comic with their Roger Mellie character as tour guide, concentrated on the seventeenth and eighteenth century vicious satire cartoons of the great and the good. The third, Politics, takes on the art of caricature from the eighteenth century to the present day, curated by Gerald Scarfe. The fourth, Bawdy, looks at the ruder taboo breakers, from the traditional saucy British postcards, through the likes of Kenny Everett and Benny Hill. The fifth, The Worship Of Bacchus looks at an enormous work by George Cruikshank warning of the dangers of alcohol, presented by Steve Bell. And the sixth room Absurd looks at the more surreal sides of British comedy from the Alfred Tenniel illustrations of Alice, through the images of Python, curated by contributor Harry Hill.

Rude Britannia: British Comic Art At Tate Britain

The kids will love it. Or, at any road, I probably will… the show starts tomorrow and runs until September 5th. Tickets are £10.


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.