6-22-2009

Contact: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385

Original cartoons – from funny to political – on display at Ohio State

Exhibition showcases artwork from world's largest cartoon collection

Ohio State's Cartoon Library & Museum is bursting at the seams. Even before the International Museum of Cartoon Art (IMCA) transferred its entire collection (more than 200,000 works) to the Cartoon Library & Museum in 2008, the facility had a reputation as one of the biggest and best in the nation. Now, with more than 400,000 original cartoons, Ohio State houses the largest collection of cartoon art in the world.

Two new exhibitions at Ohio State showcase the treasures of the IMCA collection including original art from editorial cartoons, comic strips, animation and comic books. Fan favorites Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Blondie, Dick Tracy, Mickey Mouse, For Better or For Worse, Doonesbury, Spider-Man, Beetle Bailey and Family Circuswill all be on display.

The characters and images depicted may be familiar, but taken out of their traditional context in print and on screen, cartoons can be examined and appreciated as works of art; triumphs of design and craftsmanship. The originals reveal the method behind the magic, offering visitors an opportunity to look at the popular culture icons and images so prevalent in their everyday lives in new and different ways. The exhibitions are free and open to the public.

* From Yellow Kid to Conan: American Cartoons from the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection will be on display June 28 – August 7 at the Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor, 128 North Oval Mall. The exhibition is open weekdays from 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

* Hogarth and Beyond: Global Cartoons from the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection will be on display until August 31 at the Cartoon Library and Museum's Reading Room gallery, 27 W. 17th Ave. Mall (entrance near Wexner Center, north of Mershon Auditorium). The exhibition is open weekdays from 9 a.m. -5 p.m.
These events celebrate the opening of the exhibitions on June 27-28:
Saturday (6/27), 7 p.m., Wexner Center for the Arts Film/Video Theater, 1850 College Rd. 101 Dalmations (1961) proceeded by animated shorts, Brave Little Tailor (1938) and Leprechaun's Gold (1949).
Introduction by animation historian Jerry Beck.
See www.wexarts.org or call 614-292-3535 for tickets. $7 ($5 for members, students, and senior citizens).

Sunday (6/28), Ohio State University Faculty Club, 181 South Oval Drive.
1 p.m. Milestones of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. Panel discussion with former trustees Brian Walker,
Jerry Robinson and Arnold Roth; moderated by Jared Gardner, professor of English at Ohio State.

2:15 p.m. Keynote Speaker - Jim Borgman, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and co-creator of the comic strip Zits.

3:30-5 p.m. Exhibition openings and reception.
Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor, 128 North Oval Mall

In addition, on July 14, Prof. Gardner and Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor of communication and curator of From the Yellow Kid to Conan will deliver a gallery talk, "A Whirlwind History of American Comics" from 7-9 p.m. in 162 Hopkins Hall, 128 N. Oval Mall.

A full schedule of events is at http://cartoons.osu.edu/