Seymour Chwast has illustrated and/or authored around 40 children’s books during the course of his seven-decade career. Incredibly, Kid in a Candy Store: The Picture Book Art of Seymour is the first solo exhibition of these books. Curated by kid’s book historian Leonard Marcus, it opened on Nov. 18 and will run through April 14 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. It is filled with old and new works that excite and inspire—especially those he’s made using unconventional shapes and folds and bindings.
“Seymour Chwast’s revolutionary contributions to the world of graphic design have overshadowed his equally impactful picture book career—until now,” explains Marcus. “Chwast approaches his books with the same inventive design, signature humor and love of typography found in his commercial art. His illustrations are characterized by bold colors and a flat graphic style. He creates unexpected scenes and populates his stories with witty human, animal and imaginary characters. Many of Chwast’s books play with format, encouraging readers to reimagine the traditional reading experience.”
It is no exaggeration that the 92-year-old Chwast is either drawing or conceiving one or two new children’s books a week. In recent years, as editorial and advertising work has receded, he’s done a whole new crop of output for kids. With a storeroom full of ideas (I wrote this article for The Atlantic on his unpublished ones), he’s known to a choice few as the Energizer Artist (though I do not think he’s done a bunny story yet); he just keeps going …
On view are 30 original illustrations from nine picture books, alongside a selection of hard-to-find editions, examples of Chwast’s poster work, and a video demonstrating his unconventional book constructions. Of his more playful offerings on display, there’s Keeping Daddy Awake on the Way Home From the Beach (1986), which folds out into a six-foot-long panoramic story; Paper Pets (1993) invites readers to cut and fold three-dimensional animals and story characters; Traffic Jam (1999) contains a spectacular six-panel center gatefold; and Tall City, Wide Country (2013) asks children to read the book both horizontally and vertically, depending on the story’s setting.
Visitors can also play a guessing game inspired by Where’s My Cat? and delight in immersive graphics and artwork created by the artist specifically for the exhibition.
