It’s the final weekend for “Queer as Comics“, a fascinating show at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in London. The exhibition features comics, cartoons, graphic novels, and zines from queer artists portraying LGBTQIA+ characters and perspectives.
Earlier this fall, I had a chance to talk with Paul Gravett, one of the exhibition organizers, about the show. Gravett was nicknamed by Eddie Campbell as “the man at the crossroads”, meaning he’s someone who brings people together and makes connections. He says, “Not out of any kind of huge agenda, personally, just that I believe in the comics art form. I know it’s global, and I know it’s extremely rich, historically and currently, and it just needs to get more profile, and the more people discover it, the better. [I’m] always, always trying to look at how the art form can progress and advance, which it must do. It must not get stuck. If it’s stuck, if you get into a kind of a pattern or a repetition, it just starts to fade away.”
Gravett has written a number of books on the medium, including Comics Art. Another exhibition he previously curated was “Comics Unmasked” at the British Library.
The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is relatively new, in a remodeled pump house that dates back to 1768. It’s a public charity that opened this permanent home in July 2026 in Clerkenwell. It has over 50,000 of Quentin Blake‘s illustrations; he is perhaps best known as the illustrator of the works of Roald Dahl and was the first Children’s Laureate in Britain. He wanted to create a focus on the importance of illustration, which is often sidelined when it comes to fine art.
The “Queer as Comics” exhibit is well worth seeing. It does two things I haven’t seen much in other shows. First, it has a comic giveaway available (as seen above), and second, instead of just putting original art on a wall, the art is often accompanied by the published book for visitors to flip through.
The exhibit is arranged historically, from the 40s to the modern day, and it was purposefully intended to be calm (as you can see from the wall colors), not confrontational, in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible. Areas and topics include “Discretion and Daring”, “Up From Underground”, “Expanding Expression”, and “Queer and Now”.
Gravett said, “About the exhibition, I very much see it as an embryo. I think it could go a lot bigger. This is intended to travel, although we haven’t yet got anything as far as I know. I’m hoping when we can tour, if we can tour, or I can replan it at some future stage, it can become a larger show, to embrace more countries for a start. [And] I’m hoping to expand it into a book.”
Next up at the Centre, from November 21, 2026, to May 9, 2027, is “Tove Jansson and Her Families“, the first UK exhibition to focus on Jansson’s work as an illustrator as well as the people who influenced her work. Jansson created the Moomins.
