Comedy Revue Set at Rockwell Museum
STOCKBRIDGE - Norman Rockwell Museum will present "A Comedy Revue Point of View" on Saturday, March 15, from 1 to 4 p.m.Starting at 1 p.m., there will be a guided tour of "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel"; at 1:30 p.m., meet "Stand-Up Chameleon" Jackson Gillman, songsmith, storyteller and movement artist, whose interactive performance will take a humorous look at our daily rituals from a variety of perspectives. At 2:30 p.m., there will be a drop-in art class for all. The event is free with regular museum admission.
"LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel," on view through May 26, examines the development of sequential art through its practitioners.
Lions released from a zoo in war-torn Baghdad; a mother's battle with lung cancer; an American expatriate searching for her identity in Mexico - serious subject matter for any medium, but particularly so for a new wave of critically acclaimed and commercially successful long-form comic books.
In these graphic novels, themes explored include culture, society, and current events, and topics range from heart-wrenching to thought-provoking to risque. "LitGraphic" examines the history, diversity, and popularity of this phenomenon considered by many to be a comics renaissance. The exhibition features more than 146 artworks by 24 contemporary graphic novelists and historic practitioners of this ever-evolving art form.
Their work continues to suggest new ways of seeing: wordless narratives by 1920s woodcut artist Lynd Ward and modern-day commentator Peter Kuper; revolutionary underground comics by R. Crumb and humorous, personal "Girl Stories" by Lauren Weinstein; the works by "Mad Magazine" co-creator Harvey Kurtzman and "Breathtaker" co-creator Marc Hempel; and the pioneering art of Will Eisner ("Contract with God"), Dave Sim ("Cerebus"), and Terry Moore ("Strangers in Paradise"). The exhibition features original book pages and studies, sketchbooks, and videotaped interviews with graphic novelists.
Other artists included in the exhibition are Jessica Abel, Sue Coe, Howard Cruse, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Brian Fies, Gerhard, Milt Gross, Niko Henrichon, Mark Kalesniko, Matt Madden, Frans Masereel, Frank Miller, Art Spiegelman, Barron Storey, Lynd Ward, Lauren Weinstein, and Mark Wheatley.
The museum is open daily, 10 to 4 and weekends until 5; admission is $12.50 for adults, $7 for students, and free for visitors 18 and under (five per adult). On Wednesdays through May, senior citizens are admitted at half-price.
For more information, call 413-298-4100, Ext. 220, or www.nrm.org
