
David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of work by R. Crumb (b. 1943), opening at the gallery’s London location. One of today’s most celebrated illustrators, Crumb helped define the cartoon subcultures of the 1960s and 1970s with comic strips like Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, and Keep on Truckin’. Instrumental in the formation of the underground comics scene, Crumb challenged and expanded the boundaries of the graphic arts, redefining comics and cartoons as countercultural art forms. The overt eroticism of his work paired with frequent self-deprecation and a free, almost stream-of-consciousness style have solidified his position as a renowned and influential artist, whose work addresses the absurdity of social conventions and political disillusionment. This presentation will feature work from across the adventurous and expansive arc of Crumb’s sixty-year career, and will be his first solo exhibition at David Zwirner London since 2016. It follows R. Crumb: Tales of Paranoia, which was presented at David Zwirner Los Angeles in 2025–2026. The eponymous comic book—the artist’s first in twenty-three years—was published by Fantagraphics in 2025.







Born in Philadelphia in 1943, R. Crumb has used the popular medium of the comic book to address the absurdity of social conventions, political disillusionment, irony, racial and gender stereotypes, sexual fantasies, and fetishes. Inspired by Thomas Nast, Honoré Daumier, T.S. Sullivant, James Gillray, amongst others, his drawings offer a satirical critique of modern consumer culture, and often seem to possess an outsider’s perspective—a self-conscious stance which Crumb often relates to his personal life.

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