Just a few weeks ago, Lars and I had the pleasure of seeing R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis at the Portland Art Museum. We highly recommend this exhibit, which runs through 9.19.10 in Portland. Crumb produced 207 black and white drawings for all 50 chapters of Genesis. Each drawing is packed with so much action and text that it is difficult to examine each one in a museum setting. Still, it was fun to see the artist’s hand in each one, including his liberal use of Wite-Out. Crumb’s illustrations truly bring the bible to life in the most unconventional way.
Shortly before the exhibit arrived in Portland, we were approached about making a frame for a limited edition giclee print of Crumb’s, A Short History of America. Our client wanted the frame to highlight the imperfections of Crumb’s signature style and the subject matter of this particular comic. We went with a rustic piece of douglas fir from the former Muir and McDonald Tannery in Dallas, OR, which we finished with our natural stain. We chose not to mat the print and used spacing instead to protect the artwork. We really enjoyed using 100 year old wood from a deconstructed historic landmark to frame a comic about American sprawl.
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