Sequential art dates back to ancient civilization. Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek friezes, and Bayeux tapestries all told visual stories through a combination of sequential images and words. As the art form has evolved, it has expanded to reflect our many cultures, histories, and belief systems. Comics as we know them today represent a melting pot of thought that prompts new considerations of old ideas and new understandings of our fellow humans. Comics show us how we can, and should, view history and society through diverse lenses like culture, race, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ableness, and age. SDSU Library is home to over 50,000 comics in all genres and formats. While it would be impossible to uncover every corner of this extraordinary medium in a single exhibit, we invite you to experience as many as possible. DemoGRAPHICS draws upon the Library’s Comic Arts Collection to explore how identity, in its most broadly-defined sense, is cultivated and nurtured in the imagination.
The SDSU Comic Arts Collection was developed almost entirely through donations. We’d like to thank Dan Hager, Doug Highsmith, Lisa and Rob O’Carroll, UC Riverside, Laura Gordon and Jack Sword, the Gordon T. Griffin Family Trust, and the many other individuals whose contributions have made this outstanding collection possible.
This exhibit ran in the SDSU Library from August 28, 2017 - July 31, 2018 and was curated by Librarians Pamela Jackson and Anna Culbertson from Special Collections & University Archives. This exhibit was brought to you by Special Collections & University Archives | Library & Information Access and the SDSU Common Experience.