Cathy's Art Diary

Nostalgic exhibition at Somerset House looking at the life and work of the creator of the Peanuts, Charles M Schulz, and the themes and influence of the cartoons. The lower floor of the show looked at Schulz’s life and evolution of the cartoon whereas upstairs it looked at the themes that ran through them such as friendship, war, hope, sport and politics. The best aspect of the show was the plethora of original hand drawn cartoons many of which I remembered from having the anthology books as a child. They still made me laugh out loud. It was a nice touch to include contemporary art influenced by the cartoons however it wasn’t really necessary, the original work held its own without it. I did like Andy Holden’s video installation on friendship which invited you to sit on beds with Snoopy bedding on to watch. Closing 3 March 2019 Review Evening Standard

Magical evening at Somerset House to mark the opening of the Good Grief, Charlie Brown exhibition bringing together Jean Schultz, Charles Schulz’s widow and contemporary artist Andy Holden. This was a fascinating discussion looking at the legacy of the Peanuts cartoons and the work of the museum which Jean set up with Charles and still runs. It was interesting to learn about how Charles worked and to see some great slides of the cartoons. She talked about the effect of the films on the work and its legacy. Andy Holden talked about how he was inspired by the cartoons and the work he has in the exhibition in homage to them. I fascinated to hear his riff on the zigzags on Charlie   Brown’s t-shirt and what they had meant to him. Such a good idea to bring these two speakers together and I can’t want to go and see the exhibition.