Art Leaders Gallery will present “Echoes of Imagination: Tracing the Artistic Influences and Legacy of Dr. Seuss” from Sept. 18 through Oct. 17 at 33086 Northwestern Highway in West Bloomfield. The exhibition will include artwork by Theodor Seuss Geisel from the 1920s through 1989, displayed alongside art associated with Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell and Erté, according to reports by The Oakland Press and Macomb Daily. The gallery says the exhibition will consider Geisel’s artwork in relation to broader art movements.
Works on view
The exhibition includes Geisel’s private “midnight paintings,” which he made during his life but did not publicly exhibit, according to the Oakland Press and Macomb Daily report. The report attributes that information to Jes Stiner, manager of national gallery accounts for The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection, who is scheduled to attend the opening reception.
The Oakland Press and Macomb Daily reports describe connections between Geisel’s work and Surrealism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, Art Deco and Art Nouveau. They also identify later artists, including Sheefy McFly and Mr. Brainwash, as artists influenced by Geisel.
Featured sculpture
A Large Scale Horton Silhouette is scheduled to make its world premiere at the gallery. The News Herald reported that the three-dimensional work uses open space to form a shadow depicting Horton hearing the Whos on a speck in “Horton Hears a Who!” The News Herald report said it is the only piece of its kind currently produced and displayed and that the exhibition will not tour to another venue after its West Bloomfield run.
Opening information
The opening reception begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Art Leaders Gallery lists admission at $20 per person; tickets include live music, appetizers and light bites, plus three beverage tickets, according to the gallery’s event listing. A free public open house is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, and the exhibition is described as free and open to all. BroadwayWorld reported that the artwork on display will be available for purchase.
Statewide and local creative-economy context
The available statewide data do not isolate Oakland County, but the cited Creative Industries report identified Oakland among the Michigan counties with the highest creative-industries employment. According to the Michigan Film Office, via Michigan Business, Michigan’s creative industries generated $3.6 billion in wages, or 3.1% of total state wages, during fiscal year 2011.
Gallery history
Art Leaders Gallery says on its website that it has operated as a fine-art gallery since 1992.
