Register

Lynda Barry in New York

By Peggy Roalf   Thursday September 10, 2015

Of comics, Lynda Barry says, “Comics are a place to go. They gave me a ‘meanwhile’ and an ‘elsewhere’.”

Now she returns the favor, big time, with an exhibition of more than 80 original comic drawings, watercolors, and mixed media collages from the past 35 years opening on Satruday at Adaum Baumgold Gallery. There will be work from her seminal books Two Sisters ComeekGirls and BoysBig IdeasThe Fun HouseOne! Hundred! Demons!, and Picture This: The Near-Sighted Monkey Book, as well as her latest book Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor, and a reception for the artist from five to seven pm. 

 


Above: Two pages from One! Hundred! Demons! Top: The Road of Love, 1988. Copyright © Lynda Barry; courtesy Adam Baumgold Gallery.

Featured in the exhibition are two complete stories from Lynda Barry’s graphic novel One! Hundred! Demons!, Dogs and Common ScentsOne! Hundred! Demons! (2002), a work of “autobifctionalography” in Barry’s words, plays off the Zen Buddhist notion that you’ll face 100 demons, or challenges, over the course of your life. Another story in the exhibition is Lynda Barry’s memorable introduction to The Best American Comics 2008, which she edited. These colorful drawings are an ode to her favorite cartoonist Bill Keane, and explore why comics have an endless fascination for us. 

Central to Lynda Barry’s work is her energetic line and her boisterous sense of humor. For example, an early work How Much Do You Really Know About Sex?(1982) asks, “Which Object Most Accurately Represents Your Sexuality?” It offers as choices a coterie of suggestively drawn everyday objects: “The Sardine, The Mustard Seed, The Ace of Spades, A Piece of Cake, A Party Favor, or Mr. Zip.” 

Meet Lynda Barry on Saturday, from 5 to 7, at Adam Baumgold Gallery, 60 East 66th Street, NY, NY. Lynda Barry | Everything: Part II continues through October 31. Lynda Barry in DART. Lynda Barry at Drawn & Quarterly.

 


DART