PRESS RELEASE
January 20, 2010
Contact: Karina Kacala, kkacala@firstpersonarts.org, 215.402.2057

First Person Arts and Bryn Mawr Film Institute Present “Warning: Graphic Content”
Explore the Graphic Memoir Across Media: Film, Comics, Printmaking and More
Warning: Graphic Content
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 7pm
Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Tickets are $15 ($10 for First Person Arts and BMFI members)
Advanced tickets available online only at salons.firstpersonarts.org

Photos for the press can be found here.

PHILADELPHIA and BRYN MAWR – First Person Arts (FPA) and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (BMFI) present Warning: Graphic Content on Tuesday, March 9 at 7pm, as part of Philagrafika and One Book, One Philadelphia. This multimedia presentation explores the genre of the graphic memoir across multiple forms. Three leading artists– Daniel Heyman, Jamar Nicholas, and Josh Neufeld – will present their work and discuss how they create it. A screening of the film Persepolis, based on the graphic memoir by Marjane Satrapi, will follow the discussion.

THE ARTISTS. Prisoner abuse connected to the Iraq War has influenced the recent work of Philadelphia artist Daniel Heyman, who incorporates the words prisoners speak to him as he draws them. Philadelphia-based comics artist Jamar Nicholas is working on a new, graphic version of Geoffrey Canada’s powerful memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun. Josh Neufeld’s work gives the graphic treatment to his personal life and historical events, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

THE FILM. Marjane Satrapi’s two graphic memoirs were combined to make the film version of Persepolis. The film chronicles Satrapi’s childhood in the shadow of the Iranian Revolution, following her into young adulthood as she navigates the starkly different worlds of Western Europe and an increasingly conservative Iran.

More About the Artists
For the past four years, Daniel Heyman has concentrated his art on the war in Iraq, specifically the abuse and torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib and other prisons. Heyman has traveled to Jordan and Turkey where he talked face to face with over 25 former detainees, painting their portraits and capturing their prison experiences. Portfolios of Heyman’s work are held by the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Yale University Art Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, Free Library of Philadelphia and many others. He teaches at Swarthmore College and the Rhode Island School of Design. www.danielheyman.com

Jamar Nicholas is a Philadelphia-based cartoonist, illustrator and educator, who has created several popular titles, most notably Detective Boogaloo: Hip Hop Cop. Jamar has also held the position of Editorial Cartoonist at the Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest African-American newspaper. He has taught and lectured on the topic of comics creation at the University of the Arts, Delaware College of Art and Design, Arcadia University and Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. www.detectiveboogaloo.com

Josh Neufeld is the writer/artist of the award-winning graphic travelogue A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia & Central Europe). Neufeld worked as an American Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. HIis blog entries about the experience were published in the book A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge. Neufeld works primarily in the realm of non-fiction comics. His work has been featured in The Vagabonds, Keyhole, and Titans of Finance, as well as in numerous comics anthologies, newspapers, magazines and literary journals. www.joshcomix.com

About First Person Arts:
Founded in 2000, First Person Arts transforms the drama of real life into memoir and documentary art to foster appreciation for our unique and shared experience. First Person Arts believes that everyone has a story to tell and that sharing our stories connects us with each other and the world. First Person Arts supports the development of memoir and documentary work by artists from all walks of life and provides opportunities for their stories to be heard in programs throughout the year. Visit www.firstpersonarts.org