A Hobbesument

March 19, 2018 3:07 AM

Tony Lewis finds a new way of writing poetry, through artistry, and his assemblage of cut-up dialog balloons from Bill Watterson’s much-loved comic strip: This Artist Deconstructed His Love and Fascination for Calvin and Hobbes

Anthology 2014–2016 is an installation of thirty-four original collage-poems by the Chicago-based artist Tony Lewis. Exhibited at the Hirshhorn for the first time in its entirety, this series of evocative black-and-white works draws on an unlikely source—Calvin and Hobbes comic books.

glik glik glik, 2015
Maybe, 2015
The Beach, 2015
Untitled, 2016
The Dreaded, 2016

Related: Tom Phillips, A Humument

posted by chavenet (3 comments total)

Well, here's a coinky-dink! I backed into the Hirshhorn show from the (very good) Brand Name: Art & Commodity in the 1980s exhibition just a few days ago and, without context, these are ghostly pieces consisting of comics panels with all details effaced save a few word balloons. It was almost disappointing to find out that they'd originally been something as familiar as Calvin and Hobbes. Interesting work.
posted by the sobsister at 10:35 AM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

There is no gallery-based meta commentary on C & H that could could come near to the artistry and profundity of the original - which subverts all potential commentary and criticism in some panel somewhere along the line.

Whatever you're thinking, Bill Watterson is way ahead of you.
posted by Modest House at 8:35 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

High art... Low art...
posted by potrzebie at 8:21 PM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]