FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE CONTEMPORARY JEWISH MUSEUM PRESENTS
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)
Exhibition on View: July 1 – October 26, 2010
Press Preview: Thursday, July 1
10 AM – 1 PM exhibition viewing;
12 PM Q&A with Maira Kalman
“I was out walking the dear dog and I saw 500 things that made me want to make art.”
- Maira Kalman
San Francisco, CA, June 16, 2010 – This summer, the Contemporary Jewish Museum presents Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World), the first major museum survey of the work of award-winning illustrator, author and designer Maira Kalman.
Well-known for her covers and drawings for The New Yorker, Kalman has also written and illustrated over a dozen books for children and adults, authored two celebrated illustrated blogs for The New York Times, and has collaborated with the likes of fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and choreographer Mark Morris. Kalman’s art appears everywhere in the foreground of today’s visual culture illuminating contemporary life with joy and humor, intelligence and insights, curlicues and question marks.
The exhibition, organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, features a selection of 100 original works on paper that span thirty years of illustration for publication as well as less widely seen works in photography, embroidery, textiles, and performance.
Kalman, born in Tel Aviv in 1949, immigrated to the United States at the age of four with her family. She has lived in New York ever since.
Overview
The 100 works on view -- from preliminary sketches to paintings -- are quickly paced and hung as a running narrative of personal memories, cultural references, life’s abundant pleasures and distractions, and the chaos of profound events -- all rendered in Kalman’s now signature blend of written text and drawings and infused with her keen sense of the absurd. “I think everything I do is narrative. It’s things that are from my life, and things I’ve seen, and things I’ve seen in books. It’s always telling stories,” she says.
Nothing is lost on Kalman for whom the everyday charm of a nicely wrapped package or an interesting fez holds as much interest as the state of democracy in America today. “As an artist, I’m reporting the big things and the small things. And sometimes you don’t know which is which.”
Kalman’s art is a discipline of daily creativity and observation, and she speaks of her work as a form of journalism. Taking photographs, collecting objects and arranging them, writing in notebooks, drawing in journals, painting pictures, making lists – these are the tools she uses to render an ongoing account of the world as she sees it. “Being curious is a completely natural part of it, and being a busybody, and wanting to know what people are doing, and why, and how it works. And why are you wearing those shoes? And what’s that hole puncher for? The nature of curiosity is both about how people live their lives and about the bigger picture of how the world works,” says Kalman.
Expressive of her habits as a collector of odds and ends, traveler, reader, and avid walker, Kalman has created a special installation as a context for the survey furnished with chairs, ladders and “many tables of many things”-- balls of string, things that have fallen out of books, moss, lists, bobby pins. The installation invites viewers to observe her way of structuring the world in and outside of the studio.
Specific Works on View
The exhibition includes selections from many of her 12 children’s books including the beloved Oooh-La-La (Max in Love), chronicling the adventures of a Parisian dog poet, and Stay Up Late, her first children’s book created in collaboration with the Talking Heads’ David Byrne. These whimsical books have attracted admirers of all ages, including Ruth Reichl, American food writer and co-producer of PBS’s Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie. “Anybody who has read any of Maira’s books for children will have, as I did, a fantasy of what kind of a world Maira lives in because there is nobody on earth that has a more open imagination, a more exciting way of looking at the world,” says Reichl.
Images from Kalman’s books for adults are included, such as an illustrated edition of Strunk and White’s classic grammar guide, The Elements of Style. In it, Kalman imagines scenes for some of the book’s wonderfully quirky sample phrases and its sage rules (The encouragement to “Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand.” is the inspiration for Chocolate and Champagne Party). The work Man Dances on Salt became the well-known cover for The Principles of Uncertainty, a picture book of essays based on a yearlong column for The New York Times devoted to her musings on life’s complexities, absurdities, and joys. “That column was the greatest thing because it talked about how nobody knows what’s going on, but we keep going on,” says Kalman. Soldier, a portrait of a soon-to-be-deployed soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, is one of the works on view from her second online epic for The Times (soon to be released as a book) And the Pursuit of Happiness, which wanders through the subject of democracy in America.
Covers and drawings for The New Yorker are a highlight of the exhibition. “What distinguishes her work is that it is beautiful, but that it also has something to say,” says Francoise Mouly, the art editor at The New Yorker. Kalman’s widely celebrated cartoon map of New Yorkistan (created with cartoonist Richard Meyerowitz), provided a welcome burst of humor after 9/11 with its tongue-in-cheek tribal territories like Pashmina, Irant, Irate, Kvetchnya, and Botoxia. Her cover illustration Dog Reads Book is one that the artist considers a self-portrait of sorts. Misery Day Parade, in which one marcher wears an “I feel rotten” button while another carries a flag for the “Paralyzed with Panic Brigade” was the result of watching a parade on Fifth Avenue. “I thought it looked terribly phony,” she says. “What if people paraded in the way they really felt, I wondered.”
Other works for magazines include a series called “Mad About the Met” for Departures, Aalto Vase with Poppies for The New York Times Style Magazine, an illustrated essay on Vita Sackville-West’s legendary garden for Culture + Travel, a portrait of Dolce & Gabbana’s yellow Labradors and other fashion pet portraits for Interview and My Tel Aviv for Tablet.
Also in the exhibition are a number of works on textile, an area that has increasingly been of interest to Kalman. Her Spilt Milk is one of a number of clichés she has embroidered onto linen napkins after being told by a physic, “Don’t cry over split milk.”
A relatively more secret aspect of Kalman’s identity is the “M” in M&Co, the revolutionary design firm founded by her late husband, Tibor Kalman, with whom she was a constant collaborator. Many of the objects they created together such as the firm’s famous 10-One-4 watch based on one of her doodles are featured as part of Kalman’s installation of objects.
Kalman has often collaborated on design projects such as the fabrics she created with longtime friend and neighbor, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. “Besides being the greatest artist in the world, she is the greatest arbiter of all things,” says Mizrahi. Her other collaborators have included the textile company Maharam, Pucci (mannequins), Kate Spade (cosmetic bags) and Mark Morris (stage sets). Yet another collaborative effort was Kalman’s recent mini-opera created with composer and art-rock celebrity Nico Muhly based on her illustrated The Elements of Style, performed with an ensemble of musicians playing teacups, slinkys, and typewriters. Elements of many of these projects will be displayed in her object installation as well as in short films created by her son Alex Kalman.
Kalman at the CJM
To enhance the experience of the exhibition, the CJM will be offering a number of programs for the public inspired by Kalman’s work and ideas. One of those ideas is called MILTON. Kalman’s vision for MILTON is a conceptual space for pleasure and exchange where a proprietor-of-the-day engages the public in music, poetry, card playing, or even ironing. Kalman herself will inaugurate the first MILTON on the opening day of the exhibition, July 1 from 5-6 PM, which will include acts of unbridled whimsy by local artists and thinkers.
The Museum is also planning an all-day reading event, Kalmania, featuring an ongoing rotation of writers reading from Kalman’s books on October 10, 2010. Many programs for children and families will be available as well including a pre-school hour in the exhibition once a month starting in July.
“People of all ages are immediately drawn into the whimsy, fun and intelligence of Kalman’s work,” says Connie Wolf, Executive Director of the CJM. “Kalman is a delightfully original commentator on contemporary American society, and she inspires us to open up the way in which we see the world. The exhibition and the unique programs we are planning are an invitation to come experience Kalman’s mad passion for the everyday and to make you look at art, culture and life from a new perspective.”
Related Programming
PERFORMANCE | MILTON
Throughout the exhibition, the CJM will present a series of MILTONs - conceptual spaces for whimsy and exchange from music and poetry to card-playing or even ironing inspired by Maira Kalman.
Thursday, July 1, 5-6 PM
Maira Kalman will inaugurate the Museum’s first MILTON.
Thursday, August 19, 5-8 PM
The second MILTON will feature local celebrities doing something both fun and utterly irrelevant to their professional careers.
Thursdays, October 7, 14, 21, 5-8 PM
Local art schools will take over MILTON during these evenings, breaking new ground in the artful presentation of whimsy.
PERFORMANCE | KALMANIA
Sunday, October 10; 12 – 5 PM and Monday, October 11, 6 - 8 PM.
Kal∙ma∙nia\noun : hours of continuous Kalman-inspired activities with large helpings of dramatic Kalman readings and regular interruptions for music, dance, and other distractions.
FAMILY PROGRAMS
Preschool Gallery Hour
Second Sundays of the Month | Free with Museum Admission, Youth 18 and Under always Free.
Sunday, July 11: Maira, Music, and Mayhem!
10-11:30 AM, Doors open at 9:45 AM
If it’s the second Sunday of the month it’s Preschool Gallery Hour, when the CJM opens early just for preschoolers and their families. Tour the brand new Maira Kalman exhibition, make your own instruments out of recycled found objects, listen to some best-loved Kalman stories, and stomp your feet to the musical mayhem of Jonathan Bayer!
Sunday, August 8 : Kalman @ the CJM!
10-11:30 AM, Doors open at 9:45 AM
If it’s the second Sunday of the month, it’s Preschool Gallery Hour, when the CJM opens early just for preschoolers and their families. Tour the Maira Kalman exhibition, listen to some best-loved Kalman stories, make your own alphabet pages using recycled found objects, and stomp your feet to the musical mayhem of Bronkar Lee and his Circus of Sound!
4X4 Family Studios
Sunday, July 25, 2010, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Admission: $10 Members / $15 non-members per family. Includes up to two children. Museum admission included.
WIRED CIRCUS at the CJM!
Create your own fantastical “wire circus.” Author and illustrator Kalman was so inspired by fellow artist Alexander Calder that she wrote Roarr: Calder’s Circus. Use wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps to make a circus of your own! For families with children ages 6 and up.
Target Arts and Wonder - Free Family Event
Sunday, July 18 11 AM – 4 PM
FREE
Kalman’s World: Celebrating Art of the Everyday
Bring the whole family (but please leave the dog at home!) to this FREE day at the CJM, where we celebrate the world of everyday wonders. Tour the Museum, design your own totes and handmade bottle-cap magnets, and be wowed by the everyday genius of San Francisco’s very own Sweet Can Productions, featuring dancing brooms, balancing teacups, and stairways to the sky!
Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event is San Francisco's biggest weekend-long marathon of free family fun with free general admission to six leading museums and free art activities and performances.
Drop-in Art Making
Sundays, 1- 3PM | Free with Museum Admission, Youth 18 and Under always Free.
July 11, 2010: Musical Maira
In conjunction with the Jewish Music Festival and Maira Kalman’s foray into the musical world, design your own musical instruments using found objects and your musical noggin!
July 25 & August 1, 2010: Map Me a World a la Maira
Drawing upon Maira Kalman’s love of maps (from geographic to personal), illuminate your own personal terrain by creating your own Kalmanesque map.
August 8, 2010: From ‘A’ to ‘K’—A Kalman Alphabet
As Maira Kalman loves letters, little objects, and lists, come and mix it up by creating alphabet book pages using found objects and adding your very own inspired poems.
August 15 & August 22, 2010: Perfectly Imperfect Perspectives
Play with perspective like Maira Kalman. Come arrange and rearrange colorful papers and found images to create layered collage compositions that play with perspective.
August 29, 2010: Dare to Design, Dare to Wear
Maira Kalman, the clothing designer? You bet! Maira gives you permission to illustrate your clothing, and then dares you to wear it proud!
September 5 & September 12, 2010: ‘Portrait of an Object’ New Year’s Cards
In celebration of everyday objects, enter the art studio, pick out an object of your desire, and use pencil and goache to design note cards that celebrate new beginnings.
September 19, 2010: Buttons and Bits and Bobs, Oh Maira!
As Maira Kalman uses the things around her (she LOVES buttons in particular!) for both inspiration and art-making, create your own work of art using buttons, bits, bobs, and who knows what else.
October 3 & October 10, 2010: The Body Eclectic
As Maira Kalman has a gift for drawing eclectic characters, design your own eccentric creature (with mismatched head, torso, legs and feet!) and write a poem to describe your creation.
October 11, 2010: Discovering the World of Maira!
For this special Columbus Day Drop-In, explore a sampling of classic Drop-Ins inspired by the Maira Kalman exhibition.
October 17 & October 24, 2010: Our Animal Selves
As Maira Kalman has created self-portraits of the canine variety (‘tis true!), paint yours truly, inspired by an animal friend of your choosing.
Exhibition Sponsorship
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. The exhibition is curated by Ingrid Schaffner, ICA Senior Curator.
The San Francisco presentation is made possible by the lead support of Osterweis Capital Management. Additional support is generously provided by Barbara and Howard Wollner.
The Koret and Taube Foundations are the lead supporters of the CJM 2010/11 exhibition season.
ICA gratefully acknowledges Leonard and Louise Riggio and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. for their generous support of this exhibition, and Barbara B. & Theodore R. Aronson for their sponsorship of the catalogue. Additional support has been provided by Mari & Peter Shaw; Carol T. & John G. Finley; BZ & Michael Schwartz; Erica & Eric Schwartz; Anthropologie, Inc.; Barbara & Richard S. Lane Fund; Howard A. Silverstein & Patricia B. Silverstein Exhibition Endowment Fund; Joan & Hyman Sall; The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; Commonwealth Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; The Dietrich Foundation, Inc.; The Chodorow Exhibition Initiative Fund for supporting the tour; and in-kind support from the Julie Saul Gallery.
About the Contemporary Jewish Museum
With the opening of its new building on June 8, 2008, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) ushered in a new chapter in its twenty-plus year history of engaging audiences and artists in exploring contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas. The new facility, designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, is a lively center where people of all ages and backgrounds can gather to experience art, share diverse perspectives, and engage in hands-on activities. Inspired by the Hebrew phrase “L’Chaim” (To Life), the building is a physical embodiment of the CJM’s mission to bring together tradition and innovation in an exploration of the Jewish experience in the 21st century.
Major support for the Contemporary Jewish Museum comes from the Koret and Taube Foundations who are the lead supporters of the 2009/2010 exhibition season. Additional major support comes from the Jim Joseph Foundation; The Wallace Foundation; Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Fund; Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund; Institute of Museum and Library Services; Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund; Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation; Jewish Community Endowment Fund: Terra Foundation for American Art; Bank of America; Pacific Gas and Electric Company; The Skirball Foundation; and Target. The Museum is supported by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
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The Museum is open daily (except Wednesday) 11 AM – 5 PM and Thursday, 1 – 8 PM. Museum admission is $10.00 for adults, $8.00 for students and senior citizens with a valid ID, and $5 on Thursdays after 5 PM. Youth 18 and under always get in free. For general information on the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the public may visit the Museum’s Web site at thecjm.org or call 415.655.7800. The Contemporary Jewish Museum is located at 736 Mission Street (between 3rd & 4th streets), San Francisco.
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