The Museum offers a journey through the history of comics by the hand of the artist Agu Ariza

 

The municipal delegate of Culture, Susana Rivas, and the artist and collector Chiclana, Agu Ariza, have opened at the Museum of Chiclana the first of the temporary exhibitions that the Casa Briones will host this year, specifically, 'Collecting comics in Chiclana', which becomes the fourth installment of the Hidden Museum series, which aims to bring to light private collections that usually remain beyond the reach of the general public, and will remain open until March 17.

In the words of Susana Rivas, “through this exhibition the Museum wants to make room for modes of artistic expression to which most museums only occasionally pay attention. And we have to thank Agu Ariza for ceding part of his extensive collection so that we can learn about the history of comics, its origins and how throughout our lives it has become a vehicle of expression in which the reality that was happening around us at all times was reflected”.

Agu Ariza, for his part, commented that “it has been a bit crazy to get into my comic collection and make a selection of something that could be interesting for everyone. Here are comics that are my favorites, of course, but I have tried to make a historical account of the comic from its beginnings to what is being published nowadays with the aim of hooking people who may not know this means of artistic expression”. 

In this sense, he added that “comics are not so popular now, although they are always there. It represents a reference for many people who are very interested in art and culture, but it has ceased to be a popular medium as it was at some times, when it was the first property that a child could have”. 

The exhibition, configured from a collection accumulated over more than 40 years, arises with the aim of offering an orderly summary of the history of comics that allows interested people to discover and explore the world of comics through their titles, their characters but above all their authors. Arranged chronologically, this exhibition reveals, as we move through the room, and we observe showcases and paintings, a set of covers and inside pages of comics -belonging to more than 150 fundamental comics in the history of the medium-, ranging, grouped into thematic blocks, from 'The origins of comics' to 'The graphic novel', through 'Comics in the press', 'Comic books before the censorship code', 'The resurgence of American superhero comics in the 60s', 'Horror magazines and the invasion of Spanish authors in the USA', 'Fantastic comics in Europe', 'The renewal of superhero comics in the 80s', 'The boom of Spanish comics', 'Underground comics', 'The Víbora magazine' and 'Manga'.