LE DERNIER CRI: Legendary Publishers of the International UndergroundTrack 16 Gallery: July 9-August 16, 2003 Exhibition Catalogue by [Track 16 Gallery]: [Le Dernier Cri]

Santa Monica: Smart Art Press, 2003. First edition. Softcover, 9 x 4 3/8” (30pp.), fine. This is the first exhibition of Le Dernier Cri (DC) in the United States,though they are legendary in Europe. This catalogue was made in conjunction with their 2003 exhibit at Track 16 Gallery curated by Georganne Deen. Le Dernier Cri: Legendary Publishers of the International Underground is an exhibition of works by a selection of artists whose work has been published by the irreverent, independent publishing house Le Dernier Cri, (the last cry), who has been promoting comics and deviant graphics as a potent form of expressionist art. DC has assembled a network of international artists and provided them a forum where they are given the materials and autonomy necessary for the production of audacious graphic projects. There exists a combination of ingredients: manga and Art Brut; virtual reality and expressionism; free form drawing and the dance of death, pornography, noise, violence, and spoken language; jubilation and lyric effusion. The disturbing elements in this group of work are not intended to provoke. Instead they are the product of a profound existential anxiety in the face of chaos. This avant-garde graphic style has previously been excluded from both commercial comics and “high art” discourse. A long tradition of satirical underground publishing has existed in France, from Daumier's political cartoon etchings in the nineteenth century, to the underground comics that appeared in the 1960s to contemporary independent publishers. Operating out of an abandoned maternity hospital in Marseilles, Le Dernier Cri founders Pakito Bolino and Caroline Sury have created a space for experimentation in graphics, film, and publishing. Artists include Pakito Bolino (France), Caroline Sury (France), Ota Keiti (Japan), Doctor Good (Switzerland), Stu Mead (U.S.A.), Julie Doucet (Canada), Mirka Lugosi (France), Reinhard Scheibner (Germany), Manuel Ocampo (Philippines), Fredox (France), Gary Panter (U.S.A.) and many others. [Jean Louis Lanoux in Raw Vision in Le Dernier Cri 1].