The works of an award-winning illustrator and author go on display to the public beginning tomorrow at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
WGVU previews the exhibition, The Art of Wordless Storytelling, with the man behind the pen and brush.
“How many of you are aware that there are wordless books?”
As David Weisner strolls the GRAM’s exhibition space he explains there’s a long picture book history. It’s storytelling that’s compelled Weisner since his days as an art student at the Rhode Island School of Design.
“What became clear after doing them was getting feedback on how they’re read and that was the really interesting thing. You’re taking away the words but you’re putting that power of reading the story into the reader’s, the viewer’s hands. Everyone who reads them will read them in their own way. People see different things in them. So, there is no right and wrong way to do it. And particularly for kids, it’s very empowering to suddenly be in charge of telling the story.”
Three of his stories are Caldicott award winners colorfully capturing the imagination. A fan of comic books, Weisner mixes his boyhood pleasures with a dash of humor. Often, it’s a place where logic and fantasy meet.
More than 70 of Weisner’s watercolor illustrations are on display.
The Art of Wordless Storytelling will be on view at GRAM through Jan. 12, 2020
Patrick Center, WGVU News.