Curated by Beton Collective

Sat 1 Nov- Fri 5 Dec 2025

kollectiv 69 Old High Street CT20 1RN Folkestone

OPENING RECEPTION: Sat 1 Nov 2025 6-9pm

The New Yorker cartoonist's Navied Mahdavian’s work explores the ideas of identity, home, and belonging through the lens of parenthood. His comics and debut graphic memoir, This Country: Searching for Home in a (Very) Rural America present the perspectives of a young father, a second generation immigrant, and an artist finding his feet in a politically and economically divisive world. 

This is the first time the work of illustrator and author, Navied Mahdavian is exhibited in the UK. 

"In my experience, cartoonists are a self-deprecating bunch. I mean, we make money by drawing dogs drinking out of the toilet (but like, it's commentary, you know). But we say a lot with very little. With just a few lines, and maybe a caption, we tell a story, and sometimes that story is silly or irreverent, and sometimes it gets at something deeper. A solo exhibit is a reminder of this. That I may be an idiot, but I make art.” Navied Mahdavian

Navied Mahdavian is a Folkestone-based American cartoonist, illustrator and writer. Since 2018, he’s been a regular contributor for The New Yorker. His work has also been featured in the LA Times, Reader’s Digest, Wired, Alta Online, and in the cartoon collections, The Rejection Collections (2022) and Send Help! (2021). He has received fellowships from MacDowell and La Napoule Art Foundation. 

Humour is a central feature of his work. The exhibition features cartoons previously published in The New Yorker, a magazine with a distinctive gag-it style. It also presents some of the ‘rejected’ work - the curatorial choice which opens the discussion about the process of making the artwork. 

Funny Times is an exercise in vulnerability. Beyond the humour lie our everyday anxieties and hopes - to be seen, to be loved, and not to be forgotten. The cartoons in the show often touch upon current topics like our relationship with modern technology. 

The comics and fragments of Mahdavian’s debut memoir reveal an intimate, meditative self-examination, yet one we can identify with. Since becoming a father, Mahdavian’s work has been focusing on his relationship with Iranian culture; his place in America during politically challenging times; his growing awareness of mortality through his father’s sickness; and his role in his daughter’s life. 

“After becoming a parent it was hard to write about anything other than parenting because, well, why would I want to write about anything other than my daughter? My first book, This Country, was about my three years in a foreign country (well, it was technically still America, but it felt different enough) and how being in a new place made me reflect on who I was. Fatherhood is a lot like that, like moving to a new land, but a new land where you don't understand the language and customs, and everyone is just crying (and pooping) all the time. And you have to be present, because there is this person who needs you. Comics have given me the space to make sense of this new terrain, to look back and reflect on where I've been, to help me understand where I--where we--are going.” Navied Mahdavian

In the interactive part of the show, the artist invites the public to collaborate with him by offering an image to write the caption for. 

Events and Public Programme

Navied Mahdavian will be running a 6-week Graphic Novel Course at kollectiv between Wednesday October 29th and Wednesday November 26th. For more information, visit: https://www.betoncollective.org/whats-on/p/graphic-novel-memoir-course-with-navied-mahdavian

Folkestone’s first Illustration Festival runs between Friday November 7 and Sunday 9 November. For more information, visit: https://www.betoncollective.org/fif

On Friday 28 November at 7pm, Navied Mahdavian and the curator of the exhibition, Katie Beton will be in conversation at kollectiv.

Prints are available to purchase from kollectiv.