Strangely, you have to go upstairs to see the R. Crumb’s Underground exhibit at the Mass College of Art in Boston.
Robert Crumb original art isn’t often available for public scrutiny, and not everything at this show — which runs through next Saturday, March 7 — is original. There’s a good mix of material, very nicely presented, with almost none of Crumb’s overtly pornographic stuff — which is good, considering that today was Family Day at the gallery.
In the photo at the right, facing left, is my old friend Morris, who showed me R. Crumb comics when we first met, 38 years ago. One of the niftier examples of Crumb’s work at the exhibit is a collection of thread spools he decorated with faces. That’s Morris looking into the case.
This is the sort of drawing that I suppose most people who know of R. Crumb associate with him, but it’s actually representative of only his earlier work, and is fairly atypical of what he did starting in the 70’s.
Here’s a relatively early appearance of Bill Griffith’s character Zippy the Pinhead on an R. Crumb cover from 1975.
Wow! That looks cool! But it only runs until next weekend, so it looks like I’ll miss it. Is that an Art Gallery or a Gymnasium? Those thread spools with faces are very interesting. Not just one, but dozens – and all different – boy, that R. Crumb sure loves to draw. Those thread spools look like they could be from a creepy 1930’s b&w cartoon. -Shudder-
I love the photo of Morris looking through the vials! My God, if this was “Family Day,” what did they show on the other days? 😉