The Other Side of Utopia as Seen by Charles Addams

Cartoonist's Drawings on View at The New York Public Library

New York, September 14, 2000 -- The New York Public Library's ongoing exhibition of the work of New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams (1912--1988) continues with Dystopias and Alternate Realities,a display of his depictions of different, but not necessarily better, worlds. This exhibition of drawings and New Yorker covers, which complements the exhibition Utopia: The Search for the Ideal Society in the Western World, features Adam and Eve as the coming attraction in Eden, a sidewalk wheeler-dealer selling nooses, two archaeologists excavating the Chrysler Building, and, in an updated version of Gulliver's Travels, a surprised astronaut who finds himself tied to the moon and surrounded by tiny aliens. The exhibition will be on view from September 9, 2000 through January 27, 2001 at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, in the third-floor Charles Addams Gallery. Admission is free.

A collection of more than 100 drawings by Charles Addams was donated to the Library's Manuscripts Division in 1991 by The Lady Colyton and Marilyn Addams. A rotating selection of the works is displayed on an ongoing basis. From February 2 through June 30, 2001, the gallery will feature Odd Couples, revealing Addams's bizarre but humorous perspective on relationships. Starting September 14, 2001 and continuing to January 26, 2002 is Cultural Differences, looking at the creative process and the institutions that preserve and display cultural treasures. The care and exhibition of the Addams drawings are supported by an endowment established through a gift from The Lady Colyton.

Dystopias and Alternate Realities is on view from September 9, 2000 through January 27, 2001 at The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, in the Charles Addams Gallery. Hours are Monday, and Thursday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Closed Sundays and national holidays. Admission is free. For more information, the public may call 212-869-8089.
 

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