Comic Arts Brooklyn
Comic Arts Brooklyn | |
---|---|
Status | Indefinite hiatus |
Genre | Alternative comics convention |
Frequency | Annual |
Venue | Pratt Institute |
Location(s) | Brooklyn, New York |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | November 9, 2013 |
Founder | Gabriel Fowler |
Most recent | November 2, 2019 |
Organized by | Desert Island |
Website | comicartsbrooklyn |
Comic Arts Brooklyn (CAB) was a comic book festival and art book fair organized by the comic book store Desert Island, held annually in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2013 as a successor to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (BCGF), CAB focused on self-published, independent, and alternative comics.
Programming
[edit]CAB was founded and organized by Gabriel Fowler, the owner of the comic book store Desert Island in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[1] The festival centered around a single-day, artist alley-style exhibition space that featured roughly 200 artists and comics publishers.[2] The days leading up to and following CAB often included affiliated events, such as gallery exhibitions, art installations, and screenings.[3]
Exhibition space at CAB was invitation-only; artists and vendors must either have applied and been accepted, or be invited to attend by the festival's organizers.[4] Admission to the festival was free for members of the public.[5]
History
[edit]The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (BCGF), the predecessor to CAB, was inaugurated in 2009 by Fowler, comics critic and scholar Bill Kartalopoulos, and Dan Nadel, founder of the now-defunct publishing company PictureBox. The festival ran for four years, until Kartalopoulos and Nadel announced in May 2013 that they would no longer organize BCGF.[6] In July 2013, Fowler announced the founding of Comic Arts Brooklyn, to be held in November of that year.[7] CAB was inaugurated on November 9, 2013 at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Brooklyn, New York – the same venue where BCGF was formerly held, and with many of the same exhibitors – with programming directed by Paul Karasik.[8] CAB does not officially record attendance for the festival,[9] though organizers have estimated the number of attendees per year as being "in the thousands."[10]
In 2014, CAB expanded from one to two days of programming, with the additional day designated for panel discussions.[11] Organizers considered placing CAB on hiatus in 2016,[4] but instead opted to include fewer exhibitors and reduce the length of the festival to its original single day of programming.[12] In 2017, CAB relocated from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church to the Pratt Institute,[13] nearly doubling the size of its exhibition space.[9]
The last CAB was held in 2019, after the planned 2020 show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event has since been on "indefinite hiatus" due to multiple organizers having relocated from Brooklyn, and the Pratt Institute no longer permitting events held by outside organizations.[14]
Event history
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Stone, Tucker (November 8, 2017). ""It's Hard To Sleep": An Interview with CAB's Gabe Fowler". The Comics Journal. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ a b "CAB 2018 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2018. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (October 29, 2014). "Comic Arts Brooklyn announces art exhibits". Comics Beat. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ a b MacDonald, Heidi (April 6, 2016). "No Comic Arts Brooklyn in 2016?". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Gazin, Nick (November 10, 2015). "The Coolest Stuff I Saw at Comic Arts Brooklyn 2015". Vice. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ Hodler, Tim (May 17, 2013). "The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival Ends". The Comics Journal. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ a b Melrose, Kevin (July 26, 2013). "Comic Arts Brooklyn announced for Nov. 9". CBR. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Reid, Calvin (November 11, 2013). "Fans Swarm Comic Arts Brooklyn 2013". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ a b Reid, Calvin (November 14, 2017). "Comic Arts Brooklyn 2017 Relocates to Pratt Campus". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ Fowler, Gabe (2016). "Comic Arts Brooklyn is Back!" (PDF). Comic Arts Brooklyn. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (October 1, 2014). ""It's Hard To Sleep": An Interview with CAB's Gabe Fowler". Comics Beat. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (November 9, 2016). "Comic Arts Brooklyn Scales Down Size, Not Sales". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Sutton, Benjamin (November 7, 2017). "Brooklyn's Biggest Comics Festival Just Got Much Bigger". Hyperallergic. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (June 1, 2022). "The Return of (Some) Comics Festivals". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ "CAB 2014 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "CAB 2015 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2015. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "CAB 2016 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2016. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "CAB 2017 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2017. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ "CAB 2019 Program Guide". Comic Arts Brooklyn. 2019. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
External links
[edit]- Comic Arts Brooklyn official website (defunct, link via Internet Archive)