In a few short weeks, Chicago will host one of the most curious and salivating of events in the Chicago Art calendar. This year’s CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) looks to be the most exciting one to date with a range of local talent to alternative comic’s icons, including Los Bros. Hernandez, participating! The COMP Magazine checked-in with Max Morris for a list of the weekend’s highlights, why the Chicago comics community is continually producing challenging intelligent comics, and a whole mess more!
Hey, and CAKE’s FREE and open to the public Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2015, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Center on Halsted, located at 3656 N. Halsted!!
CAKE 2014, May 31 through June 1, 2014, at the Center on Halsted, Chicago, IL, photo by Gillian Fry
Can you offer a little background on CAKE? What is the focus of CAKE? What sets CAKE apart from other comic’s related events?
My understanding is that CAKE started with Neil Brideau asking Edie Fake if he wanted to start a comics show in Chicago, highlighting the great work that was made in our town. They then asked local folks involved in the comics scene to be involved with organizing the effort. There was very large CAKE group at first, and those folks made important contributions to getting the ball rolling, but as time went one we have had different folks involved, and now the core group involves, Neil, myself, Jeff Zwirek, Marnie Galloway, Ben Bertin, and Allison Allman.
CAKE’s focus is alternative comics. What that is in the eye of the beholder. But we also service the large and excellent local comics scene, both for the seasoned veteran to the beginning cartoonist. We also service the desires of the local comics appreciator, and want to attract interesting new talent as exhibitors, and bring out special guests who represent diversity and talent.
I think what sets CAKE apart is how omnivorous it is. Each CAKE organizer has different taste and ideas of what a show should be. Sometimes these visions can be contradictory, but it leads to a show that is more diverse for a large audience’s appetites. Also as a younger show we can look to other comics expos shows like ourselves who have been around for a while, and can combine those experiences into a tasty mix.
CAKE 2014, May 31 through June 1, 2014, at the Center on Halsted, Chicago, IL, photo by Gillian Fry
I see you have Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez as special guests. Their inclusion is really exciting. These are two of the medium’s seminal artists. What are your thoughts on the Hernandez brothers and some of the other special guests you have scheduled?
I think the Hernandez Brothers have been on our list for Special Guests since the very first year! It really speaks to how we’ve grown. Los Bros have always been very important to me since I was very young, and I’m very excited to have them come out. Which is not to say that our other special guests are something to sneeze at- we take great time and consideration with whom we pick as special guests, as we feel their work represents the level of quality and individual identity that our exhibition has as a whole.
Carrie Vinarsky and Brett Manning, CAKE 2014, May 31 through June 1, 2014, at the Center on Halsted, Chicago, IL
Chicago is a curiously healthy environment for alternative comic creators. We have Chris Ware, Ivan Brunetti, Onsmith, Anya Davidson, Lane Milburn, Andy Burkholder, to mention just a handful of creators procuring some of the most interesting and thoughtful art out there today. Why do you think the city is so productive in creating an atmosphere for talent?
Well, the Chicago winter helps, as is the common thought here. I do think it also has to do with Midwest values as well- that non-secular belief in the value of individual labor is so well expressed here in Chicago. I was born in California, and even still that belief is very insidious and really expresses itself in so much of Midwestern art and architecture. That elegant desire expressed simply and powerfully through sheer force of will makes art in Chicago so potent and energetic. Chicago is also a great melding pot of culture, with everything creeping up to the middle and blending together, because so many types of people have left Chicago, the town is diverse.
CAKE is developing into an important entry point into the aesthetics and culture of serious alternative comics. What do you see as the value in alternative comics versus that of mainstream comics?
Personally speaking, I value individuality and knowledge. Mainstream comics today are very homogeneous and trend-entrenched, another outlet for corporate icons to promote themselves. Alternative comics are human, and an expression of the cartoonists dreams and mind in motion. A mainstream comic will be bagged and graded by the thousands just to sit in some collection- a minicomic exists in fewer quantity to be read and cherished by their audience. That relationship forms the visions of your Dan Clowes’ and your Michael Deforge’s- as their audience grows, so do the artists. It’s been wonderful to watch some friends and peers in CAKE develop into those types of artists, and I feel that CAKE and other expos like it are the incubators for that type of art.
2015 CAKE poster – designed by Chicago’s own Ivan Brunetti
Who are some of the other artists you are excited about working with in this event?
I’m very excited by Matt Thurber’s attendance this year- he has been a favorite of mine since a friend pushed 1-800-MICE into my hands. Derf Backderf has had to cancel previous appearances at CAKE, and I am thrilled that he will be taking part in CAKE’s programming this year. I’ve been a fan of Max Clotfelter of Seattle for several years and was very excited by his application coming in. We also have artists coming out from Europe and Australia this year, its very exciting to have a international voice at CAKE. And every year Anya Davidson makes limited run of some amazing one-of-a kind books that she’ll never make again, despite my protests!
CAKE 2014, May 31 through June 1, 2014, at the Center on Halsted, Chicago, IL, photo by Gillian Fry
What other items make CAKE worth a visit?
Lilli Carré and Alexander Stewart’s Eyeworks screening is always an exciting contribution to CAKE! Brian Cremins and Amara Leipzig also have a great lineup of Panels and Workshops for this year, their help has been invaluable. I also feel that the CAKE weekend is a showcase for cartoonists’ other talents- we have a Saturday night after-party where exhibitors’ music projects perform, and there is usually an art exhibition or reading that pops up as we get close to the weekend. But it’s all to serve our exhibitors and attendees, we want to represent the most positive and exciting ideal of comics possible.
Max Morris, 2014, photo by Tamara Smith
Also, a special thank to Matt Brady, Harrison Smith-Mooney, Isabella Rotman, and Cathy Hannah are all coordinators who assist CAKE in special projects.
CAKE
The Center on Halsted
3656 N. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60613
Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2015
11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Did I say, “Hey, CAKE’s FREE and open to the public!”
For Additional information, check out:
CAKE – http://www.cakechicago.com/
Gillian Fry Photography – http://www.gillianfryphotography.com/
Interview by Chester Alamo-Costello
