July 15th, House of Illustration, 7pm.
The highly acclaimed illustrator, filmmaker and musician Dave McKean talks to the Observer’s Rachel Cooke and Imperial War Museum curator Richard Slocombe about his astonishing new graphic novel and performance, Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash. Paul Nash joined the British army when he was 25 years old, signing up six weeks after the start of the First World War. The appalling experiences he endured, first as a soldier and later as an official war artist, prompted him to create paintings of disturbing, lasting power. Commissioned by 14-18 NOW, Dave McKean has created a major new work inspired by Nash and the artist’s nightmarish depictions of war and it’s psychological effects.
Rachel Cooke is an acclaimed author, journalist at The New Statesman and the Observer. She is the Observer’s graphic novel reviewer and a judge of the annual Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica graphic short story prize.
Richard Slocombe is Senior Curator of Art at Imperial War Museum. He is IWM's specialist on British First World War art, wartime poster design and graphic art and has researched, written and lectured widely on these subjects. He most recently co-curated the Peter Kennard retrospective, 'Unofficial War Artist'.