Kontrastprogramm. The Art of the Cardboard Cut
13.02. - 20.06.2010
The exhibition "Kontrastprogramm” brings a dark art to light: the scraperboard technique. The scraperboard is a piece of white board that the artist covers with a layer of black ink. Using a cutter to scratch and scrape, the artist then exposes the white beneath the black. The unusual white lines and hatching and the often large percentage of black in the resulting drawings upset our seeing habits somewhat. The scraperboard technique is frequently chosen by artists seeking gloomy, expressive images for stories that revolve around the yawning abysses in human existence. Others use it for portraits, caricatures and illustrations that playfully exploit the drama and abundant contrasts provided by the scraperboard.
The Cartoon Museum is highlighting the more than one hundred year history of the scraperboard and also showing related techniques like the woodblock print. And of course a selection of cartoons, comics and illustrations by the best European scraperboard virtuosos - from paragons such as Frans Masereel and Gustave Doré to contemporary artists like Thomas Ott and Line Hoven.