Exhibition: ‘Black’ was held at the Cartoon Museum which had recently been moved. It was a very small exhibition but it definitely made an impact. Written by Tobias Taitt and illustrated by Anthony Smith, the autobiographical graphic novel allowed for a different style.
I really enjoyed this exhibition. The Cartoon Museum is quite small, so it was an intimate exhibition within a small room.
‘Celebrating Black History Month, this powerful new exhibition explores the story and world of BLACK – the unflinching but uplifting new graphic memoir by writer Tobias Taitt and cartoonist Anthony Smith.
When Tobias was three, his mother killed his uncle. She was sent to prison, condemning him to spend his early life in a series of bleak institutions across rural England. As a black youth growing up in 1970s Britain, Tobias learned first-hand that the world could be a cold and uncaring place for a child of the state. But he also learned to navigate the system – and eventually to fight back against it.
When Tobias discovered life outside the institutions that held him, so began his involvement with the world of crime. Yet at the same time, a love of literature, with all its possibilities, grew within him.
With words by Tobias and illustrations by Anthony Smith, BLACK tells the uncompromising true story of Tobias’s life. Displaying 24 original pen and ink illustrations and video narration from Tobias, this intimate new exhibition invites visitors to experience a powerful and personal encounter with the art, story and people behind this remarkable graphic novel.‘