From a colorful imitation of a famous Manet painting to what appears to be an inflatable beach ball hanging from the ceiling, Kresge Art Museum’s new exhibit “Art in the ’Toon Age” gives visitors a glimpse at modern art inspired by Disney.
“I tend to like the bright ones right away,” anthropology senior Stacie Ludwig said. She’d stopped by the museum in an open space in her afternoon, having heard about the exhibit.
“Some of them don’t seem to have any meaning,” Ludwig said. “They’re just for the love of painting. And that’s OK, too.”
With works by American, British, Irish and Japanese artists, Kresge’s collection of cartoon artwork varies from abstract to specific, or bold and colorful to stark black and white or black squiggles on a wall.
A total of 27 contemporary artists have their work on display with the pieces dating from the ’60s to today.
“Some of it was hard to understand,” Ludwig said. “It was interesting seeing (paintings) in cartoon form.”
Kresge curator April Kingsley said the exhibit was chosen because it’s an area people may think they’ve seen, but haven’t.
“People might associate use of cartoons with (Andy) Warhol or Lichtenstein - pop artists,” she said. “This is a different thing. They’ve developed alongside pop art, but are not interested in the content of cartoons like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.”
American painter Sue Williams will speak at Kresge on Sept. 26.
Williams work is on display at the exhibit and described as incorporating “pornographic imagery within a predominantly abstract matrix.”
“She’ll be talking about her work, and to a certain extent, about the influence of cartoons on her work,” Kingsley said. “A lot of these artists are totally new to the Midwest.”
East Lansing resident Doris Dahl brought two Japanese visitors from Kyoto University, Mari Nakai and Shiori Fujiwara, to see the exhibit.
“At first I didn’t think I’d be interested, but I was so impressed with the show,” Dahl said. “It was surprising.”
Being shown along with “Art in the ’Toon Age” is “The Story of ’Toons,” which showcases actual comics and cartoons that give background to the art.
“Some of these were the actual inspiration for some of the artists,” Kingsley said.
Other activities associated with “Art in the ’Toon Age” include a panel discussion on animé, the showing of “Monsters, Inc.” at Wells Hall and an animé festival at the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbott Road, to be held Saturday.
“These have more content than I expected,” Dahl said of the works. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming to realize that you could put it all into a cartoon.”
Kingsley emphasized that the works in the exhibition are not conceptual art, but paintings.
“Basically it’s fine art making the use of popular art style,” she said. “It’s really quite an exciting group and a good opportunity for people to get acquainted with the contemporary scene.”
“Art in the ’Toon Age” will be on display at Kresge Art Museum until Nov. 3. The exhibit is free to the public. Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Wednesday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit www.msu.edu/unit/kamuseum/toon.
More information about the East Lansing Animé Festival is available at www.elpl.org.
