The art of crazy
A NEW exhibit at the world’s largest cartoon museum in Ohio, United States, showcases Mad Magazine’s artistic history and legacy, including illustrations and paintings by some of its most famous illustrators.
The magazine, founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, debuted as a comic book in 1952, then switched to magazine format three years later. Produced by what Mad calls its “usual gang of idiots”, the magazine includes long-running features such as Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions, hapless espionage antics in SpyV.Spy , and a back cover that once folded in on itself reveals a new image.
Artistically Mad: Seven Decades Of Satire opened at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University earlier this month and runs through Oct 21.
Rather than focus exclusively on the magazine’s content, though, the exhibit features original drawings and paintings by contributors, who included some of America’s top cartoonists over the years, says cartoonist and exhibit curator Brian Walker.
The exhibit also includes vintage Mad magazines and memorabilia such as trading cards and board games.
For some, Mad is best known for its parodies of TV shows and films, and the exhibit includes examples of those created by longtime contributor Mort Drucker. They include a more recent example too: Strangely Thin, a 2017 parody of the Netflix sci-fi drama Stranger Things, by Tom Richmond.
Some of the exhibit’s material came from the Billy Ireland museum’s own collections. Others were loaned by private collectors, including Grant Geissman, a jazz guitarist and Emmy-nominated composer who’s also written several books about Mad.
As a kid growing up in California in the 1950s and 1960s, Mad provided Geissman his first hint that the real world might be different than the one portrayed on the era’s clean-cut TV shows. It made him a fan.
In the decades since, satire has blossomed almost to the point of overload, from The Simpsons to The Daily Show and of course the online portal The Onion.
But Mad stands alone, Geissman says, because “it’s this weird combination of words and illustrations”.
“It’s its own animal, and in that way it’s going to survive,” he says. – AP
Artistically Mad: Seven Decades Of Satire is on till Oct 21 at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Sullivant Hall, No. 1813, N. High St, Columbus, Ohio, United States; the museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 1pm to 5pm.
For more information, go to cartoons.osu.edu or e-mail cartoons@osu.edu.