THIS WEEKEND: Jeff Smith exhibit opens

The exhibition also includes a selection of original comics whose artists Smith cites as direct influences, among them examples from Walt Kelly’s Pogo, Will Eisner’s The Spirit, George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, Carl Barks’s Uncle Scrooge, Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury, and E. C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre. The exhibition is organized by Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library, and David Filipi, the Wexner Center’s curator of film and video. The catalogue features an introduction by Caswell, essays by Filipi, Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, and cartoonist and scholar Scott McCloud, and an extensive and wide-ranging interview/conversation with Jeff Smith, Caswell, and Filip.

A related show, titled Jeff Smith: Before Bone, is on view nearby in Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library from May 1 until September 5. (The library entrance is just north of the Wexner Center’s main entrance, along the sidewalk under the “grid.”) That exhibition is open 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 5 PM. Admission is free.

In this informal gallery talk, the curators of Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond talk about the project’s development and selected pieces in the exhibition. Lucy Shelton Caswell is professor and curator of Ohio State’s Cartoon Research Library. Dave Filipi is the Wexner Center’s curator of film and video.