Daniel Clowes Revisits Chicago Roots In New MCA Exhibit
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 9, 2013 9:00PM
“I just drew and wrote about what was around me.”
Daniel Clowes’ answer to a question about his beginnings as a professional artist was shy and barely audible above the din of construction and HVAC. It was an answer that, like Clowes, was without pretense and got directly to the point.
Clowes, the popular creator of the comic book Eightball and the graphic novels Ghost World, David Boring and Wilson, was in town last month for the opening of a new exhibit of his artwork at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes is a career-spanning retrospective spanning from his early days in Chicago to his current successes as a cartoonist and in-demand magazine illustrator for the likes of Time, Newsweek, GQ and The New Yorker.
The MCA is the second stop for the exhibit, which debuted at the Oakland Museum of California. Susan Miller, the independent curator who organized Modern Cartoonist, worked with Clowes for years choosing the artwork and mementoes from his private archives for the exhibit. Miller has long been a fan of Clowes, who, in addition to his artwork, adapted Ghost World and Art School Confidential into screenplays; the screenplay for Ghost World earned Clowes an Academy Award nomination.
"One of the tasks we had in bringing this work into a museum setting is the different expectations museum-goers have about cartooning,” Miller said. “It's more accepted these days. A lot of that has to do with the notion of craft, storytelling and character development that have similar importance in the fine art work. Dan's work, in particular, serves as a bridge between the two worlds."
The MCA engaged Miller to expand the number of pieces for their version of Modern Cartoonist. Over 130 pieces of Clowes’ art, mostly pen and ink sketches and ink washes, are on display. Designer Nicholas de Monchaux worked closely to capture Clowes’ style as viewed from an artist’s studio or altelier, with desks and viewing stations bearing first-edition copies of Clowes’ comics and other artwork. De Monchaux also created viewing stations and kiosks which bear more of Clowes’ artwork.
Two of the highlights of the exhibit are wood murals depicting Clowes’ take of his formative years in Hyde Park and as a young cartoonist in Wicker Park, lovingly recreated by the MCA staff. They serve as trapped-in-amber moments of an artist beginning to master his craft.
“In the early days I struggled to get the lines I wanted, and I can see that in the artwork,” Clowes said. “My hands were clenched trying to get those lines that I can now do effortlessly.”
Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes is at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., through Oct. 13.