Sequential City

About

Sequential City examines the idea of the city through the art of the graphic novel. Original sketches, layers of colour, boxes, panels and strips–the parts the public don't normally get to see – will be exhibited alongside finished art works. This eclectic exhibition explores the affect architecture has on our mental functions and behaviours through the medium of illustration. Drawing allows us to make sense of the world and through Sequential City we can see how these artists view the modern metropolis.

Anise Gallery brings together the work of 6 artists for whom architecture is an important element in their work; Owen D. Pomery, Alison Sampson, Lando, Hannah Berry, John Riordan & Tim Bird. Alison Sampson's work for the graphic novella, Genesis presents a flowing, dream like scape while maintaining the architectural rigidity of the city. The elaboration and colour from Sampson contrasts starkly with Owen D. Pomery's monochrome, reductive style. The thoughts and actions of Pomery's cloistered main character from Between the Billboards are echoed seamlessly by his simple transformative line work. Similarly, John Riordan's graphic poem Capital City mirrors style to content. It concerns itself with the city in crisis – his psychedelic, orgiastic depictions of people in the melee of city life are as provocative as the looming city sky line which towers menacingly above them. All of these artists share a concern for life in the city and the architecture which influences our existence.

By examining architecture through sequential drawings we can bridge the gap that exists between the construction of our world and our daily experience of it. These images complete the circle from the initial architect's sketches of a structure to an artist's perception of the same construction within their story. The psychology of architecture in contemporary graphic novels is illustrated through the words and images of these artists and we hope it will cause you to rethink the city in which you live.