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The AU review

Jodie Sloan, August 3, 2023

 

Take a rock-and-rollercoaster ride through 1970s New York with Rachel Coad’s NEW YORK CITY Glow

 

It’s 1977, and Strawberry the glowing octopus (Stauroteuthis syrtensis) is finally out of jail. Hitching a ride with Ray, an insurance sales-snake searching for meaning in his life, she heads for New York City, where she eventually finds work at a little bar called CBGB.

Centered around the New York City Blackout of 1977 and featuring a host of rock royalty, NEW YORK CITY Glow is the outstanding graphic novel debut from Margaret River-based Rachel Coad. 

 

From start to finish, it’s an absolute delight, pulling double duty in both capturing the zeitgeist of the period and imbuing the whole thing with a sense of whimsy that can only come from having a glowing octopus as your leading lady. 

 

Not content with featuring the iconic CBGB, The Ramones, New York Dolls, or even handing Strawberry a guitar, Coad also adds suggested listening to many of her gorgeously imagined pages. It’s truly a love letter to music – whether of the era or otherwise – and there’s even space to add a few tracks of your own and build that perfect NEW YORK CITY Glow playlist.

A unique twist on a brief period of New York history, NEW YORK CITY Glow is also a sweet comic caper, with echoes of found family, self-discovery, and following your dreams. A genuine joy!

     

FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

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Impulse Gamer

 

Tim Chuma June 19, 2023 

 

New York City Glow Review (2023) 

 

A glow in the dark octopus, a depressed middle-aged snake, the Ramones and the 1977 NYC blackout what do these things have in common? Well nothing is the answer but it is still fun to see them all in the same story none the less.

 

There are a lot of clangs in the narrative but it comes together eventually with the different characters all meeting up in the end. The Ramones and CBGB OMFUG are featured but are not really the main characters in the story. The Ramones have already had their own story with Rock and Roll High School and have a larger than you would think influence over popular culture.

 

Ray the snake and Strawberry the octopus are unique characters and are treated as just normal in this version of the USA and subject to the same laws as everyone else. This publication does also have the weird factor that will tempt people to have a look at it even if they are not super into the Ramones.

 

I would recommend this one even if you are not super into comics or graphic novels as it reminds me seeing the New York Ninja comic in the comic store and deciding to buy it just on the cover alone.

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Final Draft, 2SER
 

Sydney (transcript) Andrew Pople 2023

 

Book Club - New York City Glow

 

Ok book lovers, strap in I’ve got a wild one for you this week. New York City Glow is the debut novel from award winning portrait artist Rachel Coad. Just in case it doesn’t come up later, Rachel’s paintings are amazing and you should check them out on her website… www.rachelcoad.com.au  

New York City Glow’s synopsis is just about the most fun I’ve ever had summarizing a text…

 

An octopus named Strawberry and a snake named Ray road trip across the continental USA in the late seventies landing in New York in time to save the city from the forces of darkness and secure the future of music forever! So this is a graphic novel. Rachel’s art blends sepia, photorealistic cityscapes with the cartoonish reptiles and an almost horror movie-like quality to her protagonists tentacles. The overall effect is a kind of phantasmagoric period piece set in 1970’s America. The story is something of a hero’s quest. Strawberry is a bioluminescent octopus (look it up) whose perennial glow keeps getting her in trouble. She’s got an ex-con with an FBI record but all she really wants is to make music. During her last prison stint Strawberry was subjected to horrific experiments and on the day she’s released she meets Ray who drives them cross country to New York. Strawberry seeks fame and stardom in the Big Apple but all she finds in rejection. Finally she winds up as the janitor at CBGB’s and is there front and center to see The Ramones play live on the infamous night in 1977 when the entirety of New York is thrown into chaos as the city blacks out (look it up). The book is an absolute riot for the senses as Coad goes out of her way to engage her reader on every level. The story is minimalist but that does not mean it’s lacking (it’s so wild you’d be overrun  if anything more happened). Marry this with the gorgeous visuals that offer the reader a world in every panel. To top it all off Coad has a suggested playlist; each page is matched to a song and the whole thing is collected in its own Spotify playlist so you can sing along. I’m 90% recommending this book because it’s just so much fun.

Maybe I don’t emphasise this enough, but these book club reviews are all about books I’ve personally enjoyed and this is one I’ve already read twice.

 

New York City Glow is not without its themes though and in Ray and Strawberry’s journey in search of meaning I found a little of the existential crisis we all go through as we try to find our way in life.  Sure none of us are glow-in-the-dark cephalopods (and more power to you if you are) but that doesn’t mean Strawberry’s tale won’t resonate. Go and check out New York City Glow and don’t forget to turn it up to eleven! 

Biography. 

 

2023 - 10 years as a studio participant of Margaret River Region Open Studios (2013-2023), Displaying paintings, drawings and comic art.

2016 - Studio Escalier, Paris, Winter at the Louvre drawing program 

2014 - 2019 Member of the Foyer Gallery committee, Margaret River 

2010 - Studio Escalier, Paris, Winter at the Louvre drawing program 

2009 - Propel Youth Arts Mentor

2007 - 2012 Residency at Customs House, Fremantle

1994 - 2003 Artist at The West Australian Newspaper

1989 - 1991 Diploma in Art and Design, School of Art and Design, majoring in illustration and design

 

Selected Awards and commendations

2024 Portia Geach Memorial Award - Finalist

2023 Salon des Refuses - Finalist

2022 Doug Moran Portrait Prize - Finalist

2022 Mandorla Art Prize - Finalist

2022 Swan Art Prize, Highly commended

2020 Lester Prize - Finalist

2019 Doug Moran Portrait Prize - Finalist

2018 Kilgour Art Prize - Finalist

2017 Black Swan Portrat Prize - Finalist

2016 Black Swan Portrait Prize - Winner

2016 Kilgour Art Prize - finalist

2016 Albany Art Prize - finalist

2016 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize - finalist

2015 Doug Moran Portrait Prize - semi-finalist

2015 Black Swan Portrait Prize - finalist

2015 Bankwest Art Prize - finalist

2014 Doug Moran Portrait Prize - semi-finalist

2014 Black Swan Portrait Prize - finalist

2014 Lethbridge Small Scale Art – online finalist

2014 Bankwest Art Prize - finalist and People’s Choice prize winner

2013 Albany Art Prize - finalist

2011 Artitude open category - winner

2007 Metro 5 Gallery - finalist

2006 Metro 5 Gallery - finalist

2004 Cromwell’s art prize - finalist

 

 

Selected Exhibitions

2024 Portia Geach Memorial Award, S.H. Ervin Gallery

2024 Gallerysmith, ‘Season’ solo

2024 Exhibitor Market Hall, Perth Comic Arts Festivval (PCAF)

2023 Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, group

2023 Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival. New York City Glow exhibition, solo, and author presentation.

2023 Exhibitor Market Hall, Perth Comic Arts Festivval (PCAF)

2022 Doug Moran Portrait Prize

2022 Mandorla Art Award, group

2022 SWAN art prize, BRAG, group

2020 Lester Prize AGWA, group

2019 Doug Moran Portrait Prize, NSW, group

2019 ‘Light and Dark’ WA Art Collective, group

2019 ‘Flock’,Gallerysmith, VIC, solo

2018 Kilgour Art Prize, NSW, group

2017 Scratching the Surface, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, group

2017 Black Swan Portrait Prize, WA, group

2017 Restoration, VIC, solo

2016 Black Swan Portrait Prize, WA, group

2016 Kilgour Art Prize, NSW, group

2016 Albany Art Prize, WA, group

2016 RETROspective, Holmes a Court Gallery, WA, solo

2016 Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize, NSW, group

2015 Bankwest Art Prize, group

2015 Black Swan Portrait Prize, WA, group

2015 ‘District’ Gallerysmith, VIC, solo

2014 Black Swan Portrait Prize, WA, group

2014 ‘Juncture’ Gallerysmith, VIC, solo

2013 Bankwest Art Prize, group

2013 Albany Art Prize, group

2013 Gallerysmith, “Three hundred and thirty”, VIC, group

2013 Holmes a Court Gallery, Art of Sound, with the National Film and Sound Archive, group

2012 Gallerysmith, “Three hundred and thirty”, VIC, group

2012 Perth Galleries, WA, solo

2012 Gallerysmith, VIC, solo

2011 ROA Gallery, London, solo

2010 Wagner Art Gallery, NSW, group

2010 Gunyulgup Galleries, WA, solo

2010 Melbourne Art Fair, Perth Galleries WA, group

2010 Perth Galleries, “Legacy”, WA, solo

2010 Holmes a Court Gallery, “Ten”, group

2009 Gallery 27, “pack”, London, solo

2008 Gunyulgup Galleries, WA, solo

2007 Perth Galleries, WA, “Clusters”, solo

2007 Customs House open studio, WA, group

2007 Mine Own Executioner, Mundaring Arts Centre, WA, group

2007 Metro 5, VIC, Finalists, group

2006 Gunyulgup Galleries, WA, solo

2006 Perth Galleries, WA, group

2006 Metro 5, VIC, Finalists, group

2005 48 King St, Perth, WA, solo

2004 Murray St, Perth, WA, solo

2004 Cromwell, NSW, Art Prize Finalists, Sydney, Melbourne and Washington DC

 

Selected media

SMH, 2023, ‘Portraits that didn’t make the Archibald Prize cut.’ By John McDonald

2SER radio Sydney, 2023: Final Draft, Interview with Andrew Pople

3RRR radio, 2023,‘SmartArts’ , by Bernard Caleo

STM magazine, 2023, ‘Comic Relief’ feature by Alison Wakeham

Medical Forum Weekly, 2023, ‘Glowing with Heart’ by Ara Jansen

Impulse Gamer, 2023, review by Tim Chuma

RTRFM 92.1, 2023, ‘Artbeat’ - interview 28 July

Books and Publishing, 2023, New York City Glow, review

AU review, Take a rock-and-rollercoaster ride through 1970s New York with Rachel Coad’s NEW YORK CITY Glow, by Jodie Sloan

WA Writing 2023, review by Will Yeoman

Australian Book Review 2023  ‘Puzzles of the past’ Exploring the Ordworld and New York City, by Bernard Caleo

The Age, 2015, In the Galleries, Review by Dan Rule

Australian Art Collector, 2015 July-Sept, Collecting - ‘For the  diary’, Lousie Martin-Chew

The West Australian, 2015, ‘Record lot for art prize’ by Stephen Bevis

The West Australian, 2012, ‘Fight and Flight’ by Lyn Diceiero

The Age, 2012, In the Galleries, by Dan Rule

The West Australian, 2010, Review by Ric Spencer

The West Weekend Magazine, March 2010, “My Space”

Australian Art Market Report, January 2010, “Expat Eye”

This is London Magazine 2009

In London 2009

The London Paper 2009 – Meet the artist

The Australian Times, London 2009 – Coad breaking

The West Australian 2009 – Artists puts expats in big picture

The West Australian 2007– Portraits from face-to-face

Artists Chronicle– Cover image, Nov 2007

RTR Fm radio interview – 2007

The Fremantle Gazette 2007 – “Rachel shines again”

The Fremantle Herald 2006 – “Ms Coad cracks it”

The Fremantle Gazette 2006 – “Young artist in hunt for coveted national prize”

The West Australian 2005 – “WA pair up for prize”

The Great Outdoors, channel 7 – Painting featured in The Outram Hotel

PostcardsWA – Gallery interview and review – channel 9, 2004

 

Collections

AGWA, Art Gallery of Western Australia 

Janet Holmes a Court Collection

St John of God Hospital Collection

Santa Maria College Collection

Private collections: Australia, Holland, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, UK and Japan

 


WRITING WA

 

Reviewed by Will Yeoman

 

America, 1977. Ray the snake is a failed insurance salesman. Strawberry is a musically-gifted glow octopus just out of prison. Rachel Coad is an award-winning West Australian painter with a background in illustration and design. Together they take us on a road trip in a used GTO from Midway Kentucky to New York City, hoping for a different life.

 

With her debut graphic novel NEW YORK CITY Glow, Coad brings together her skills as a graphic artist and storyteller in spectacular fashion, 

combining a grungy noirish monochrome palette with a rather sweet story of an unlikely friendship and finding your place in the world.

 

Ray is a loser with a big heart and is there for Strawberry when it counts. An inability to control her glow got Strawberry into trouble with the law in the first place. But it may prove to be not just her salvation, but that of the entire city. Including that of one Johnny Ramone.

When Ray and Strawberry find themselves in CBGB on the Bowery, Ray is a fish out of water, if you’ll excuse the mixing of species, but Strawberry is an octopus in a punk garden and wants to stay, finding work as a cleaner. It’s here that she encounters Johnny, who gives her guitar lessons. I know octopuses shed skin. But shred guitar?

NEW YORK CITY Glow is an affectionate retro roadtrip replete with playlists and fun facts that you’ll devour in one sitting before hitting the “repeat” button. As always, WA-based publisher Upswell’s book design is exquisite.

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Books+Publishing


Kelsey Oldham, 2 May 2023

 

New York City Glow (Rachel Coad, Upswell)

 

The first book by Margaret River-based artist and comic maker Rachel Coad, New York City Glow is an old-school action-packed romp through 1970s American counterculture. Mixing fact and fiction, the simple story follows Strawberry, a music-loving glowing octopus (a real species) on the run from the law. With stars in her eyes, she hooks up with sad-sack Kentuckian insurance salesman Snake (a literal snake) on a road-trip to NYC, eventually landing herself a job as a cleaner at the legendary punk club CBGB. Despite some bumps along the way, the pair eventually plays a significant role during the 1977 New York City blackout (a true historical event). Coad’s beautiful, sepia-toned caricatures, including cameos from Johnny Ramone and Lou Reed, are reminiscent of classic illustrated movie posters from the 70s—think American Graffiti or Rock and Roll High School. Not just concerned with music (the book includes a suggested soundtrack of songs on every page), references to movies also abound: one of the cleverest and most visually enjoyable scenes takes place in a movie theatre as Strawberry causes a commotion during a screening of The Exorcist. The story is relatively thin in terms of plot and character—but that seems to be the point: rather than an in-depth psychological study,

 

this comic is a piece of visual art, most concerned with capturing the mood of a specific time and place in history. A love letter to the underground, 

 

New York City Glow is a gritty and gorgeous analogue throwback for comic-lovers and anyone who has ever been obsessed with the 70s, or, well, a fan of anything at all.

 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kelsey Oldham is a former editor of Books+Publishing. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

...........................................................................................NYC GLOW full media list:

2SER radio Sydney, Final Draft, Interview with Andrew Pople

3RRR radio ‘SmartArts’ , by Bernard Caleo

STM magazine, 'Comic Relief' feature by Alison Wakeham

Medical Forum Weekly ‘Glowing with Heart’ by Ara Jansen

Impulse Gamer, 2023, review by Tim Chuma

RTRFM 92.1 ‘Artbeat’ - interview 28 July

Books and Publishing, review

AU, review, Take a rock-and-rollercoaster ride through 1970s New York with Rachel Coad’s NEW YORK CITY Glow, by Jodie Sloan

WA Writing 2023, review by Will Yeoman

Australian Book Review 2023  'Puzzles of the past’ Exploring the Ordworld and New York City, by Bernard Caleo

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