NYAB Event - Seth “It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken”

Seth “It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken”

Adam Baumgold Gallery (60 E 66th St.)

This event has ended.

Adam Baumgold Gallery presents an exhibition of over 80 drawings by Seth from his classic, 1996 graphic novella It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken, plus selected early works. In It’s a Good Life…, “Seth pays homage to the wit and sophistication of the magazine cartoon. Disaffected by the crassness of contemporary culture, Seth takes refuge in a quest to uncover the life and work of Kalo, a forgotten New Yorker cartoonist from the 1940s and 1950s, but his obsession blinds him to his increasingly withdrawn lover and the quiet desperation of his family. Charming old-fashioned style characterizes this gently wry modern quest tale about longing, anxiety and the lessons of nostalgia. The story unfolds slowly, opening windows onto haunting scenes of old factories, remote towns, and distant train routes; taking us back, on a voyage across both distance and time. In this novella, with his crisp drawings and remarkable story telling, Seth demonstrates the power of comics as a narrative form.”1 Featured in the exhibition will be the original drawings, paintings and works on paper for the hardcover and softcover versions of It’s a Good Life…, as well as endpapers, title pages, book flaps and over 50 drawings from the interior pages from the book. Also included in the exhibition will be several artworks from Seth’s ongoing PALOOKAVILLE series, where the book was first serialized. There will be a selection of early drawings and paintings on paper from covers and stories for Drawn & Quarterly magazine, as well as other projects.

Seth was born Gregory Gallant in Clinton, Ontario in 1962. He grew up in a variety of small Southwestern Ontario towns until moving to Toronto in 1980 to attend the Ontario College of Art. He is the author of Clyde Fans, Wimbledon Green, and George Sprott, all published by Drawn & Quarterly Publications of Montreal. In 2005, Seth received the Doug Wright Award for best book for Clyde Fans and again in 2010 for George Sprott that was originally serialized in the New York Times Sunday magazine from 2006-2007. His long running comic book series PALOOKAVILLE has been appearing annually since 1991, and a new book Number Twenty One will be released in September 2013.

Other new projects include Seth’s drawings in David Rakoff’s Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish. For the past two years, Seth has been creating artwork for the Lemony Snicket books. In 2005, Canada’s Art Gallery of Ontario honored Seth with a career retrospective featuring work from his graphic novels as well as his cardboard city, Dominion. Seth is the recipient of the 2011 Harbourfront Festival Prize, which is based on the merit of the author’s body of work and contribution to the medium and industry. A feature documentary film about Seth and his work will be released in 2014 by the National Film Board of Canada.

Seth is an award winning book designer. He is perhaps best known for his designs on the long running Complete Peanuts and for the John Stanley Library. In 2006 he designed the covers for The Portable Dorothy Parker for Penguin Classics. He periodically contributes drawings to The New Yorker. This will be Seth’s third solo exhibition at the gallery. Seth lives and works in Guelph, Ontario.

[Image: Seth “Palookaville Cover #4” 1993, Ink, gouache on paper, 23 1/4” x 16”]