‘Good Grief, Charlie Brown!’ opens at Somerset House
26 October 2018
Somerset House has opened a major exhibition in partnership with the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, ‘Good Grief, Charlie Brown!’, that brings together new work by 20 contemporary artists and designers influenced by the late American illustrator’s cartoon series. Alongside never-before-seen comic strips and over 100 artefacts, publications and vintage products from the Schulz Museum archive, Ryan Gander presents four works using film, print, sculpture and installation.Gander’s works illustrate the enduring power of Peanuts within popular culture, and display his appreciation for Schulz’s constant, honest depictions of failure and vulnerability. This is best seen in two newly commissioned site-specific works, including Swansong, 2018, in which a replica of Charlie Brown’s famous red kite is found tangled in the metal signage for Somerset House’s annual ice rink. A flag that will fly from the building’s roof for the exhibition’s duration (Out of many, one, 2018, pictured) is designed by Gander’s four-year-old daughter, and depicts a simple, Schulz-like landscape scene and classic cartoon speech bubble, left empty for visitors’ interpretation.
‘Good Grief, Charlie Brown!’ runs until 3 March 2019. Find more information on the Somerset House website
