Art in the 'Toon Age

Art in the ’Toon Age makes you realize what an impression cartoons have made on our collective eye,” said Dr. Mary F. Holahan, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Delaware Art Museum.  “You would never mistake these works for cartoons, but their lively design—and often subversive commentary—definitely come from that visual vocabulary.”

The styles and subjects of Art in the ’Toon Age are individual reactions to a visual culture that has embraced comic strips, cartoons, animation, and commercial art.   Commonplace imagery and standardized design have characterized these popular forms of entertainment and commerce since the early 20th century.  In the 1960s, Pop art adopted many of the strategies and images of mass-produced images and transformed pop culture into high art.

Artists such as Red Grooms, Ida Applebroog, and John Clem Clarke often implied stories in their comic narratives and paralleled Pop art’s use of commercial culture in the 1960s and ’70s.  The 1980s generation, including Luis Cruz Azaceta and Sue Williams, introduced complex themes, including political and personal ones, into their graphic style. The 1990s generation of Laylah Ali, Steve DeFrank, and others is part of a world-wide attraction to a multiplicity of cartoon styles, from Disney to anime.

Some of these artists, ranging in age from 79 to 32, are well known, while others are just beginning to gain recognition.  Using spare or decorative line, brilliant or subtle color, explicit or implied story-lines, and often with provocative imagery and subversive humor, they navigate themes of social justice, personal experience, and popular culture. Also included in the exhibition are historically relevant cartoons, comics, and anime, including works by Disney studios, R. Crumb, Stan Lee, and Otomo Katsuhiro. This exhibition was organized by the Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University.  The national museum tour was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles.

This exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum is made possible, in part, by the Emily du Pont Memorial Exhibition Fund.

’Toon Age Student Day

Saturday, April 14, 2007
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Free to teens and college students

The ’Toon Age Student Day will present guided tours of Art in the ’Toon Age and a film series celebrating cartoons of the ’40s and ’50s, including perennial characters such as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck.  Visitors will also have an opportunity to meet an up-and-coming regional artist working in the cartoon genre. Ken Castelli, a graduate from St. Mary’s College with a dual degree in History and Art, will discuss his work and inspirations, and offer advice to students pursuing an art career.

This program is included with admission, which is free to teens and college students on this day.

• Cartoon film series from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the DuPont Auditorium
• Artist Ken Castelli from noon to 2:00 p.m.
• Exhibition tours at noon and 2:00 p.m

Late-Night Events: Art on the Town

Friday, May 4
5:30 p.m. – midnight
Free to the public (except Meet the Artist Series)

Enjoy some programs related to Art in the ’Toon Age when the Museum is open late on Friday, May 4, for Art on the Town. Click here for additional details.

• Art in the ‘Toon Age Public Tour with Rob Tornoe

6:00 p.m.

Experience the special exhibition through the eyes of Rob Tornoe, a political cartoonist whose work regularly appears in several papers throughout Delaware and New Jersey. A member of The American Association of Cartoonists, Mr. Tornoe is also a graduate of the prestigious Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. A sampling Mr. Tornoe’s work, including political cartoons, illustrations, and comic book art, will be on display in the Bank of America Education Wing through May 6.

• Meet the Artist—Luis Cruz Azaceta

7:00 p.m.
$15 Non-Members/$10 Members/$5 Students

Print 'Toon Age Meet the Artist Postcard

On the night of Wilmington’s Art on the Town, the artist Luis Cruz Azaceta, whose work Lotto: The American Dream (from the portfolio, 10: Artist as Catalyst), 1992, is featured in Art in the ’Toon Age, will visit the Museum to discuss his art and career.  The Art on the Town after party will begin at the Museum at 8:00 p.m. and continue until midnight with a cash bar and music.

Azaceta, who left Cuba at the age of 18, has been influenced by Abstract Expressionism, the Latin American tradition of murals and protest art, and commercial art forms.  His painting Oppression, 1984, is part of the Museum’s permanent collection and is currently on display in Gallery 17.

To register, please contact Courtney Waring at 302-571-9590 ext. 509 or via e-mail at cwaring@delart.org.

Images (top to bottom): Luis Cruz Azaceta (American, born 1942). Lotto: The American Dream (from the portfolio, 10: Artist as Catalyst), 1992. Screenprint, 26 x 26 inches. MSU purchase, funded by the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, 92.39.3. Yoshimoto Nara (Japanese, born 1960). Girl in a Box, 2001. Silkscreen print, 12 x 12 inches. MSU purchase, funded by the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies, 2001.13.2. Red Grooms (American, born 1937). Extra! Extra! Read All About It, 2002. Color 3-D lithograph, 20 x 26 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches. MSU purchase, 2003.3.