The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) is pleased to announce The Art of Rube Goldberg

FIRST RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION IN 40 YEARS HIGHLIGHTS THE PHENOMENAL CULTURAL INFLUENCE OF RUBE GOLDBERG’S ARTWORK
The #museumofpopculture (MoPOP) is pleased to announce The Art of #rubegoldberg, an exhibition that celebrates the groundbreaking artwork of one of the most influential cartoon illustrators of the twentieth century. #rubegoldberg is on view at MoPOP from February 11, 2017 through January 1, 2018.
Marking the first comprehensive retrospective exhibition of Goldberg’s work since 1970, The Art of #rubegoldberg chronicles all aspects of the artist’s seventy-two-year career, from his earliest published drawings and iconic inventions to his Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoons and beyond. Bringing together never-before-exhibited original works of art, preparatory drawings, video, and related ephemera, this exhibition offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to witness the development of Goldberg's artwork and trace his rise to prominence.
The exhibition begins with a look at Goldberg’s innovative early work, with original drawings that reveal the beginnings of his comic style; then follows his steady rise to fame as a nationally syndicated presence in the 1920s and 1930s. Highlights include one of Goldberg’s earliest existing drawings, “The Old Violinist,” from 1895; an original concept drawing of Boob McNutt and Bertha from the 1920s; plus original artwork for such daily and weekly comic strip series as Foolish Questions, Mike and Ike—They Look Alike, and Boob Mc-Nutt, all from the 1910s and 1920s. The influence of vaudeville and early film on Goldberg’s comic imagination is explored, and his satirical takes on fashion, sports, politics, gender roles, and other aspects of modern life are showcased and celebrated. Rare family photographs and early films provide period detail and essential context.
The Art of #rubegoldberg prominently features Goldberg’s crowning artistic achievement: his invention drawings. Highlighting their unique burlesque of our modern age of invention, this section explores how Goldberg’s zany contraptions caught the popular imagination and became—as he put it—“a symbol of man’s capacity for exerting maximum effort to achieve minimal results,” while making him a cultural icon.
Hands-on interactives in the exhibition include a Goldberg-inspired invention that visitors can use to experience firsthand the idea of performing an overly-complicated process to achieve a simple task. Activity tables will encourage younger guests to learn the Goldebergian principles of cause and effect and energy transfer using topping dominoes and other fun gadgets.
The exhibition concludes with a vivid survey of Goldberg’s output during his final decades and with a celebration of his lasting influence on popular culture. A selection of his late-in-life political cartoons traces the remarkable coda of his long career, while his enduring popularity is underscored by such items as the 1995 #rubegoldberg U.S. Postage stamp. The Art of #rubegoldberg offers visitors an intimate look into the life and legacy of one of the keenest and wittiest observers of modern times, whose name has entered the cultural lexicon and whose influence continues to reverberate into the twenty-first century.
Max Weintraub is Director of the Art Galleries at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design. Max holds a Ph.D. in modern and #contemporaryart from the History of Art Department at Bryn Mawr College, and has worked in curatorial and educational departments at the Denver Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. Max’s essays on Bruce Nauman, Robert Barry, William Anastasi, William Kentridge, Giambattista Tiepolo, and others have appeared in books, exhibition catalogues, academic journals, and scholarly volumes.
The content of The Art of #rubegoldberg is based on the book of the same title, published by Abrams ComicArts, and includes over 75 original drawings and sketches, 3-4 video stations screening Goldberg’s films and taped interviews, as well as photographs, books, magazines, and other materials. The companion book, The Art of #rubegoldberg, accompanies the exhibition.
These partners have been collaborating with International Arts & Artists on a national tour that began February 10, 2017, at the EMP Museum, #seattle, Washington, and will be on display through December of 2019. The exhibition will travel to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan (May 21, 2017 – August 27, 2017); and the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California (March 15, 2018 – July 8, 2018).
The Art of #rubegoldberg was conceived by Creighton Michael; developed in cooperation with Heirs of #rubegoldberg, LLC, NY, NY; and curated by Max Weintraub. Tour organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.
The #rubegoldberg organization consists of two different companies: RGI (Rube Goldberg, Inc.), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit; and HRG (Heirs of Rube Goldberg), the for-profit arm. Both RGI and HRG work together to maximize the full potential of Rube Goldberg’s life’s work—a rich archive, 50,000 drawings deep—as a funding source to help endow its not-for-profit STEM and STEAM Education Initiatives.
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ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ARTS & ARTISTS
International Arts & Artists in Washington, DC, is a non-profit arts service organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts internationally, through exhibitions, programs, and services to artists, arts institutions and the public. Visit www.artsandartists.org
ABOUT THE #museumofpopculture (MOPOP)
MoPOP is a leading-edge, nonprofit museum, dedicated to the ideas and risk- taking that fuel popular culture. With its roots in rock ‘n’ roll, MoPOP serves as a gateway museum, reaching multigenerational audiences through collections, exhibitions and educational programs, using interactive technologies to engage and empower its visitors. At MoPOP, artists, audiences and ideas converge, bringing understanding, interpretation and scholarship to the popular culture of our time. MoPOP is housed in a 140,000 square foot Frank O. Gehry-designed building. This spectacular, prominently visible structure has the presence of a monumental sculpture set amid the backdrop of the #seattle Center.