GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.- The Grand Rapids Art Museum announces The Art of Rube Goldberg, an exhibition that celebrates the groundbreaking artwork of one of the most influential cartoon illustrators of the twentieth century. The exhibition is on view at GRAM from May 20 through August 27, 2017.
Marking the first comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Goldberg’s work since 1970, The Art of Rube Goldberg chronicles all aspects of the artist’s seventy-two-year career, from his earliest published drawings and iconic inventions to his Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoons and beyond. Bringing together never-before-exhibited original works of art, preparatory drawings, video, and related ephemera, this exhibition offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to witness the development of Goldberg's artwork and trace his rise to prominence.
“The Grand Rapids Art Museum celebrates creativity in its wide range of forms,” commented GRAM’s Director and CEO, Dana Friis-Hansen. “We’re excited to present this delightful mixed media exhibition at GRAM, which explores the whimsical world of Rube Goldberg and others who have been influenced by his work nearly a century later.”
The exhibition begins with a look at Goldberg’s innovative early work, with original drawings that reveal the beginnings of his comic style, then follows his steady rise to fame as a nationally syndicated presence in the 1920s and 1930s. The influence of vaudeville and early film on Goldberg’s comic imagination is explored, and his satirical takes on fashion, sports, politics, gender roles, and other aspects of modern life are showcased and celebrated. Rare family photographs and early films provide period detail and essential context.
The Art of Rube Goldberg prominently features Goldberg’s crowning artistic achievement: his invention drawings. Highlighting their unique burlesque of our modern age of invention, this section explores how Goldberg’s zany contraptions caught the popular imagination and became—as he put it—“a symbol of man’s capacity for exerting maximum effort to achieve minimal results,” while making him a cultural icon. The influence of Goldberg’s invention drawings will be explored in a video interview with Pop Culture Historian, Paul Tumey, which features clips from the many Hollywood films inspired by these drawings.
“Rube Goldberg’s Invention Drawings combine great illustration, physical comedy, and empathy for people’s exasperation with technology,” stated GRAM’s Chief Curator, Ron Platt. “They are as fresh and relevant today as they were when he drew them.”
The exhibition concludes with a vivid survey of Goldberg’s output during his final decades and with a celebration of his lasting influence on popular culture. A selection of his late-in-life political cartoons traces the remarkable coda of his long career, while his enduring popularity is underscored by such items as the 1995 Rube Goldberg U.S. Postage stamp. Enhancing the exhibition is Peter Fischli and David Weiss’ 30-minute video, The Way Things Go (1986–1987), in which objects such as tires, saws, ladders, and buckets are animated by physics: water, fire, gas, and gravity propelled these objects to collide and react in a chain of events.
The Art of Rube Goldberg offers visitors an intimate look into the life and legacy of one of the keenest and wittiest observers of modern times, whose name has entered the cultural lexicon and whose influence continues to reverberate into the twenty-first century.
