Exhibition
Julian Gray, Stories For Us
19 Mar 2022 – 2 May 2022
Regular hours
- Monday
- Closed
- Tuesday
- 11:00 – 17:00
- Wednesday
- 11:00 – 17:00
- Thursday
- 11:00 – 17:00
- Friday
- 11:00 – 17:00
- Saturday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Sunday
- 10:00 – 17:00
Address
- Pier 8
- Salford Quays
- Manchester
- M50 3AZ
- United Kingdom
Stories For Us is an exhibition centred on work by Manchester based illustrator Julian Gray. As a queer, trans, disabled and mixed race artist, Julian champions authentic representations of marginalised populations in comics and graphic novels.
About
Gray’s comics explore tales with protagonists such as trans knights and disabled aristocrats. The exhibition will display comics including Witch & Warrior, a Sapphic medieval fantasy, and The Invalid’s Valet, a queer Victorian romance. Accompanying these comics, will be a number of development sketches and timelapses demonstrating Julian’s draughtsmanship and approach to character designs. The exhibition will also highlight a number of comics and graphic novels that have influenced Julian’s work, which include references to film noir, 80s comic art, and other queer creators.
“I create my comics and the stories within not just for myself, but also for people like me, people who don’t see themselves reflected in the media around us. I want this exhibition to carry that message; I want it to be a space that encourages everyone to discuss and reflect on what stories get told in fiction, especially mainstream comics and comic adaptations.”
At the heart of the exhibition will be an opportunity for visitors to engage with the process of comic making through drawing and writing. Visitors are invited to display their finished creations in the gallery space, contributing to an evolving, collective response to Stories For Us.
