Following a packed and rowdy opening night last month, San Francisco’s Electric Works gallery has excited and intrigued locals and tourists with “The Cresting Wave: The San Francisco Underground Comix Experience,” a group exhibition featuring San Francisco’s Underground Comix artists from the Sixties to the Eighties. Although the artwork is available for purchase through November, the show closes Saturday, August 22nd with an All-Star Benefit Bash benefiting local cartooning legend S. Clay Wilson, who faces a long recovery from serious injuries. All are invited to join artists and fans in a raucous celebration featuring music, refreshments, a raffle and a silent auction, from 6 to 8 pm that evening.
Artists included in "The Cresting Wave” are Mark Bode, Vaughn Bode, Guy Colwell, R. Crumb, Jay Kinney, Paul Mavrides, Dan O’Neill, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Larry Todd, Randy Vogel, and S. Clay Wilson. Culling work from private collectors and the artists themselves, guest curator, Underground Comix writer, publisher and historian, Dan Fogel, has amassed important work from each artist that spans personal drawings, well-known comix pieces, including covers and original comps, as well as other rare ephemera from the heyday of the San Francisco scene. An illustrated price list is available for download from the gallery’s website.
In addition to offering exclusive signed and numbered prints by many of the exhibition’s artists, Electric Works is pleased to announce a new limited edition “jam print” by Mark Bode, Jay Kinney, Paul Mavrides, Spain Rodriguez, Randy Vogel, and S. Clay Wilson. This 24″ × 18″ piece is printed in an edition of 40, with archival inks on acid-free paper. The price is $100 per print. The original artwork for the print will be auctioned off. All proceeds go to the S. Clay Wilson Special Needs Trust, to benefit Wilson’s injuries. The prints may be ordered at: https://www.sfelectricworks.com/store/index.php?c=web1.53
The gallery’s bookstore is currently stocked with hundreds of Underground Comix and graphic novels, from rare first printings to the latest editions, merchandise, and memorabilia.
To become a sponsor of the Wilson Benefit Bash and/or the “jam print”, please contact Dan Fogel at comixpr@comcast.net
