Monsters Are Art, Too

By Laura M. Browning in Arts & Entertainment on May 5, 2010 5:40PM

We've always loved kids' books. The chance to escape into a world unfettered of the trappings of adulthood? Sounds pretty good to us. So we snuck downstairs on a recent trip to the Art Institute to check out Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art From Picture Books.

Three author-illustrators are featured here, and if you have a young child in your life, chances are you're familiar with at least one of them: Nancy Carlson (I Don't Like to Read!, the Louanne Pig books), Timothy Basil Ering (Don't Let the Peas Touch!, The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone), and one of our favorites, Peter McCarty (Hondo & Fabian, Moon Plane).

The three artists have very different styles, and though Ering's frenetic, lush watercolors seem most at home on museum walls, it's fun to see paintings from great picture books hanging in such a hallowed institution. If you've ever read picture books aloud to a child, you know how powerful the illustrations can be, and kids will enjoy seeing their favorite pigs and monsters writ large.

The exhibit is, somewhat annoyingly, split up between Gallery 10 (in the main museum; just head downstairs) and the Ryan Education Center in the Modern Wing, but as all three artists are represented in each, you could easily pick one gallery or the other (tip: if you're sans kids, you'll feel more comfortable in Gallery 10; the Ryan Education Center is pretty seriously kid-focused). Only a handful of paintings from each artist are exhibited, so it's perfect for a kid-sized attention span, or as the grownup's antidote to the more serious art upstairs.

If you're already making plans to check out Matisse or the Modern Wing, we suggest nipping downstairs for a few minutes of pure fantasy and escapism. Or grab your favorite kid on the next rainy day and live vicariously through them for an afternoon.