A GUIDE FOR THE MEDIA — NO STRANGERS TO “HOT AIR!”

DID YOU KNOW? SALES OF WHOOPEE CUSHIONS SKYROCKETED DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION. (EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE FOR WHY WE NEED THIS ‘SMILE’ SHOW NOW!)

whoopee!AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM

“WHAT MAKES US SMILE?”OCTOBER 9 2010 – SEPTEMBER 4 2011

remembrance

Comedyexpressesastubbornrefusaltogivetragedythenalsay.—ConradHyers

“WhatMakesUsSmile?”

GetDown!!

Smile

Comedyexpressesastubbornrefusaltogivetragedythenalsay.—ConradHyers

“WhatMakesUsSmile?”

GetDown!!

Smile

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM presents

what makes us smile?OCTOBER 9, 2010 – SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

THIS PRESS KIT, gallery text, artist bios & select images are DOWNLOADABLE (IS THAT A WORD?) AT www.avam.org*

“What Makes Us Smile?” is the American Visionary Art Museum’s 16th year-long exhibi-tion — a playful celebration of human joy that is co-curated by renowned creator of The Simpson’s, Matt Groening, artist Gary Panter – known for, among many other things, his whimsy behind Pee Wee Herman’s Playhouse – and Museum founder Rebecca Hoffberger. “Smile” features the costumes, cartoons, out-loud & 3-D glee-filled surprises created by 90 artists, imps, and comedians with accompanying essays, factoids, quotes and blurbs that revel in the history and science behind the gift of laughter.

Among the highlights: The comedian Michael Baldwin’s spectacular toy assemblages – created from five decades of dedicated dumpster-diving; the wickedly funny cartoons of the late quadriplegic artist John Callahan; and the comical, “unflattering” portraits by Rev. Aitor. Other exciting contributions include the comic visionary embroideries of Chris Roberts-Antieau and an homage to MAD Magazine including the glittering, beaded, beetle-winged bed by Patty Kuzbida.

Visitors will romp through a warren of mini galleries designed to explore some key aspect of humor – from its biological science to its many timeless, transcultural, delights. The gal-leries include: “HO-HO-HO HA-HA-HANUKKAH”; “More Tickle!” inspired by the favored signed words of Washoe, the first chimp to learn ASL; “Toot Suite!; “Holy Laughter”; “Tears to Laughter”; “Boo! Why Playing Monster is Fun” and the “Visionary Kid’s Room.”

WHAT MAKES US SMILE? MEDIA PREVIEWWednesday • October 6 • 10AMMembers of the media are welcomed to AVAM for a first look at our 16th thematic mega art exhibition, What Makes Us Smile? Join exhibition curator & museum founder Rebecca Hoff-berger, and artists from “Smile” for a tour, Q&A, and a test of the Whoopee cushion bench.

WHAT MAKES US SMILE? PREVIEW PARTYFriday • October 8, 2010 • 7 PM–10PMArtists, Lenders, Museum Members, the Exhibition Curators (Gary! Matt! Rebecca!) and YOU! gather to celebrate “What Makes Us Smile?,” American Visionary Art Museum’s 16th thematic mega-exhibition. Music, Beverages, Light Fare and Fantastic Art. Museum members FREE! Open to the public! Tickets: $20 at MissionTix.com or the door.

*www.avam.org/news-and-events/media-info.shtml

Clockwise from top left: Human-zee by chris Roberts-antieau; cotton candy by gloria garrett; safe sex by john root hopkins; sesame street (in glitter) by the staff of uncle fun. All photos by dan meyers. downloadable Press images at www.avam.org

Welcome! to “What Makes Us Smile?” – the American Visionary Art Museum’s 16th completely original, thematic, mega-exhibition. It’s our playful take on a most serious subject: the architecture of human joy.

Your entry is an invitation to romp through a warren of mini galleries designed to explore some key aspect of humor – from its biological science to its many timeless, transcultural delights.

Exuberant thanks go out to my two renowned comic genius and artist co-curators, Gary Panter and Simpsons’ creator, Matt Groening, and to each of the 90 ‘Smile’ artists whose cre-ations express their own idiosyncratic sense of what’s smile-inducing – be it impish, urbane, profound, sweet, high or low. We must say a big thank you that Providence has placed laugh-ter’s foremost scientific researcher and author, Dr. Robert Provine, right here in Maryland.

Just what makes “us” smile? You do! This exhibition aims to serve as our lively thank you to all our many visitors, fans, faithful supporters, artists, lenders, Board and amazing staff who, together, have helped us reach and celebrate the 15th Thanksgiving Anniversary of our American Visionary Art Museum – a place on Earth unlike any other.

“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.” – W. H. Auden

toothbrush welcome mat by nadya volicer1500 donated, recycled toothbrushes

installed in avam’s foyer, main buildingphoto:Dan Meyers

continued...

If our “What Makes Us Smile?” exhibition text had Cliffs Notes, highlights would read:

1. All the great apes laugh. (Although their breathing and vocal structures differ from ours and enviably, they have retained their ability to tickle themselves while our brain in-stantly subtracts out our own ticklish touch.)

2. Sales of Whoopee Cushions skyrocketed during the Great Depression. (Explosive evi-dence for why we need this ‘Smile’ Show now!)

3. Smiling and laughter, like yawning, can be contagious – with documented historic in-cidents of laughter epidemics causing schools and even convents to close. On the positive side, there is a global movment afoot for laughter clubs, laughter yoga, even laugh-based congrega-tions.

4. Laughter burns calories. One minute of hearty laughter can equal the increase in heart rate induced by 10 minutes of strenuous rowing.

5. Ancient Greek playwrights, 14th century Japanese Buddhist monks, Queen Elizabeth I, and classic authors like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Blake and Swift all took well-documented delight in flatulence humor.

6. Benevolent, “I’m going to get you!” fake monster play is but one of a wide range of “safe/scary” inducers to laughter - along with Halloween, play-fighting in young animals and chil-dren, and scary amusement rides.

7. MAD magazine won two U.S. Supreme Court decisions upholding the right to parody. (Expressive of just how highly we prize the important role humor plays in a free society.)

8. Hitler had a “joke court” that sentenced a cabaret comedian to death for naming his horse, ‘Adolf.’ The Puritans also condemned humor. Beware of humorless authority!

9. Laughter is the ultimate free luxury. There is some medical evidence that humor acts as an aid to healing, emotional coping and reconciliation. It is hard to stay mad at anyone who really makes you laugh.

10. Everyone smiles in the same language. What we find funny today, has its historic arche-type recorded in stories and in art throughout the world.

And finally, as Mark Twain observed, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”

With great appreciaton and delight for your being here today, we at the American Visionary Art Museum wish you ever more radiant smiles,

Rebecca Alban Hoffberger,AVAM Founder & Director

On Deck Circleby Tom Wilborn

Discarded factory wood scrap, paintc.1970

Collection of John TurnerPhoto by Dan Meyers

MATT GROENING has been named as the third greatest living genius by The London Telegraph. After growing up in Oregon and attending Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington, Matt moved to Los Angeles in the late 70s. His immersion in the local underground scene plus “a series of lousy jobs” inspired Life In Hell - the syndicated cartoon carried by 250 newspapers which he continues to write and draw to this day. Matt is also the creator of America’s favorite animated family, The Simpsons, which has become the longest running primetime entertainment in American television history and winner of 25 Emmy Awards. His deep love for the quirky, funny, and subversive makes him an ideal curator for What Makes Us Smile? which reunites him with his old pal from the L.A. punk days, Gary Panter. Matt contin-ues his creative ventures with the Futurama on Comedy Central.

GARY PANTER is a painter, designer and part-time musician. Gary Panter is a child of the ’50s who blossomed in the full glare of the psychedelic ’60s, and finally made his mark in the ’80s as head set designer for the successful kid/adult TV show Pee Wee’s Play-house. Playhouse brought his jag-ged art and surreal cartoon ideas into the homes of America and bagged him three Emmy Awards. Possibly the most influential graphic artist of his generation, a fact acknowledged by the Chrys-ler Design award he received in 2000, Gary Panter has been everything from an underground cartoonist to an interior designer (for a children’s playroom inside the Philippe Starck-designed Paramount Hotel in New York) to an internet animator (his Pink Donkey and the Fly series can be seen online at Cartoon Network’s web site). He is also the creator of Jimbo, a post-nuclear punk-rock cartoon character whose adven-tures were first chronicled as a comic strip in the ’70s LA hard-core-punk paper Slash and later in RAW magazine.

REBECCA HOFFBERGER is both Founder and Director of the American Visionary Art Mu-seum - America’s official national museum for self-taught, intuitive artistry located on a 1.1 acre wonderland campus in Baltimore, MD. Having opened its doors over Thanksgiving in 1995, the museum seeks to promote the rec-ognition of intuitive, self-reliant, creative contribution as both an important historic and essential living piece of treasured human legacy. At 16 years of age, Rebec-ca became the first American to apprentice to mime Marcel Mar-ceau in Paris. She has delivered babies in Mexico while studying shamanism; and has received the title of Dame for her work in help-ing set up emergency field hospi-tals in Africa. Balancing a passion for science, invention, spirituality, and the arts, Rebecca has pub-lished and lectured widely and has been a consultant to various non-profits across the US for more than 30 years.

ABOUT THE CURATORSA LIVELY TRIUMVIRATE!

(unflattering portraits by Rev. Aitor)

In our days and nights, we experience advancing and retreating thoughts expressed in words and pictures in our private sensorium. On occasion, what upwells there, in the day-dream stream, can be captured and shared. For most of us, our ideations and visualizations are faint and helpful; for other folks, the visions will not be ignored and exert a greater force and source of energy and attachment to their hosts. The American Visionary Art Museum pro-vides a stage, a space, for the sculptural and drawn evidence of self trained artists and gives us a glimpse into their interior view; the genius of autodidacts in all their myriad wisdoms, innocence, or admirable folly. The museum is delightful and uncanny by turns. The Visionary Art Museum has the genius to widely explore the manifestations of intensive ideation and labor and somehow have us all come out on top, even arrive at a higher, more joyful, state of mind than when we enter.

Matt Groening and I have been invited to curate a show on the topic of SMILE and we have worked to that end with Rebecca Hoffberger. It is to share our ideas and humor and laughter with the community of Baltimore and pilgrims to this looking glass into the visual psyche. It promises to be uplifting.

—Gary Panterco-curator, what makes us smile?

Gary says...

some of my best jokes are friendsby pedro bellmixed media1984collection of the artistphoto:Dan Meyers

One of co-curator Matt Groening’s “finds” was the artwork of Pedro Bell. Pedro (a.k.a. “Dro”) is is an artist and illustrator best known for his elaborate cover designs and other artwork for numerous Funkadelic and George Clinton solo albums. What follows are excerpts from a phone interview conduct-ed with the artist by his brother Maillo Tsuru Postelwait on behalf of AVAM.

Born June 11, 1950, J. Pedro Bell with the current name of Capt. Draw (Graphic ThugDan of the Known Universe!) in Checkerboard City (Chicago). As oldest and the shortest of the tribe, I’m followed by a middle bro, originally Roderick Milo, and then Bruse Anthony. Next generation/irate juniors: Bruse’s Erik, and Dro’s Derek (Autocratic) Arrington. John Bell Sr. had four main jobs: a disgraced cop, postal worker, jackleg preacher and a lifetime subscriber to the Ike Turner School of Domestic Disharmony. An-nette was Genius Humanitarian and Super Nurse, 1969 Dodge Charger purchaser, and late-in-life shifted to pharmaceutical drug abuser, via White Coat Syndrome. The old man was a frustrated artist that saw the need to early on draft his three young sons into be-coming by artists by providing us plenty of art supplies and instruction booklets. The OG was a part-time voice and piano teacher, had a great penmanship stroke, and was a retired jitterbug dancer. Her diverse musical taste and collections influenced us in dance competitions and expanded our choices. Bruse played the tuba at high school, drums and harmonica on local musical projects. Roderick explored the piano and clarinet, while Dro became involved in several music projects in assorted capacities and was a DJ for house parties and club gigs. Pedro says “his win/place record in dance contest was 100%.” “I’m a self-taught Pagan, who tried and completed around a hundred fifty six thousand credit hours at Bradley and Roosevelt Universities, with a million credit hours in Weed Science and Decadent Sex (The Joy of Flex), and Last Pocket 8-Ball to balance out the damage of formal education.” Major influences include: Ishmael Reed, Richard Becker (Iceberg Slim), Big Daddy Roth/Robert Wil-liams, Salvador Dali, Frank Frazetta and Frank Zappa. I was born in the correct decade, being a part of the Zeepest generation there ever was!!! I’m a product of my environment to be a writer, artist and a Scartoonist.

Philosophical comment: “A pound of truth can easily beat down a ton of bullshit.” Dro says on Super Bowl Sunday, 1981.

As to what makes this artist smile is talking about people and their mamas.

One thing the artist thinks most helpful for viewers to know about his work is to NOT watch any more episodes of Seinfeld or Friends!!!

Special thanks to the sponsors of American Visionary Art Museum’s 16th thematic mega-exhibition: “What Makes Us Smile?”

PLATINUM: Bank of America, Whiting-Turner, and Marilyn Meyerhoff

GOLD: Pat & Peter Handal, Marjorie Wyman Charitable Trust, Ted Frankel/Sideshow, Max’s Taphouse

SILVER: Brenda Brown-Lipitz Family Foundation, Brown Advisory, Edlin Charitable Foundation, Holly Sadeghian, Mike & Patty Batza, J. Vinton Schafer, Joan Coley, Dr. Kim Hammond, Falls Road Animal Hospital and The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project

BRONZE: Pepsi Beverages Company, Arnie Richman, John Glover, Re-becca Bruder, Kathy & Joel Sher, Venable, LLP, William B. Gilmore, onomonoMEDIA LLC

AVAM’s National Advisory Exhibition Committee:Patch Adams, Md • Colin Eisler • Eve Ensler • John Glover • Beth & Jim Gold • Olga Hirshhorn • Kathy Kinney • Rosie O’donnell • Joe Raiola • Lizzie & Dan Routman • Julie Reyes Taubman • Frank Warren • John Waters • Doug Whatley

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Exterior“Dolly” by Judy & Louis Hagen, popping a wheelie above the entranceway. “Woody,” also by the Hagen’s, appears in the Wildflower Garden adjacent to the Sculpture Barn.

Entrance FoyerUnderfoot: “Smile” toothbrush welcome mat by Nadya Volicer. Made from 1500 used, recycled toothbrushes, most of which were donated by AVAM fans!Overhead: Shiny, happy things by AVAM’s resident King of Bling, Bob Benson.

Admissions Desk & Interior Entrance RampLunchbox and toy installations by devoted dumpster-diver and prop comic, Michael Baldwin.

First Floor Niche & ho-ho-ho ha-ha-HallwayJohn Waters shocks (of course) and delights (note the moustache on John, Jr.); visionary me-norahs; surprising snow globes; and charming Christmas decorations by David Butler.

Main StaircasePostSecret creator Frank Warren’s contributes selections from the gajillions of post card secrets he receives.

Second FloorGalleries include: “More Tickle!” inspired by the favored signed words of Washoe, the first chimp to learn ASL; “Holy Laughter”; “Toot Suite!; “Tears to Laughter”; “Boo! Why Playing Monster is Fun” and the “Visionary Kid’s Room.”

Third FloorDigital photobooth by onomonoMEDIA. Take a photo and watch as your smile is “installed” as a work of art here at “What Makes Us Smile?” Downloadable versions of your photo will be available the following week!

WHAT MAKES US SMILE?

inside & out

pictured: Post card secret, courtesy of postsecret.

detail, tickling machineby carlos zapatamixed media2003Courtesy of the exploratoriumPhoto by Dan Meyers

detail, john jr.by john waters

C-print2009

Courtesy of the artist & marianne boeskyPhoto by Dan Meyers

EVENTS!FALL 2010 • Detailed information available at www.avam.org

WHAT MAKES US SMILE? PREVIEW PARTYFriday • October 8, 2010 • 7 PM–10PMArtists, Lenders, Museum Members, exhibition curators and YOU! gather to celebrate “What Makes Us Smile?” Music by DJ Carl Jr., Beverages by Max’s Taphouse, Light Fare by Sascha’s and Fantastic Art by Visionaries. Museum members FREE! Open to the public!

AVAM BENEFIT AT TWO BOOTS PIZZATuesday • October 26, 2010WORLD FAMOUS Two Boots Pizza is hosting a benefit for AVAM. YOU get some of the best pizza you’ve ever tasted & AVAM gets support for its educational programming! Details TBA.

FREEFALL BALTIMORE “makes us smile” AT AVAMSunday • October 24, 2010 • 10AM–6PM • FREE!In conjunction with the Baltimore Office for Promotion of the Arts, AVAM presents a free day that includes free screenings of some of the all-time great comedic silent films.

VISIONARY SOIREE for TeachersTuesday • November 2, Session I–4PM, II–4:30PM, III–5PM • FREE!Join our dynamic Education Team to discover the plethora of resources the museum has to offer teachers. Pick up our exciting interdisciplinary curriculum packet, learn about what a trip to the museum could entail for your students & receive a guided tour thru “Smile.”

Moonlight GODDESS PARTY & star smile summitSunday • November 7, 2010 • 7PM–1AMThe American Visionary Art Museum’s first “Goddess” benefit in 7 years! Seeking 350 wom-en to be a part of this one special night to help the American Visionary Art Museum thrive and for the joyful promise of being in each others’ loving company. Details, avam.org

mosaics with Rick shelleySaturday • November 13, 2010 • 10AM–4PMA One-Day mosaic workshop with Rick Shelley! You will get a chance to learn about a vari-ety of techniques and walk away with your own finished piece of art. Pre-registration req’d.

BAZAART PREVIEWFriday • November 26, 2010 • 5:30PM–8PM • $20Beat the crowds! First dibs on Bazaart wares (see 11/27 listing). Plus drinks & lite fare!

BAZAART HOLIDAY ART MARKETSaturday • November 27, 2010 • 10AM–5PM • Free entryOur Annual Holiday Marketplace of original creations by 50 regional artists & craftspeople.

SOCK MONKEY SATURDAYSaturday • December 11, 2010 • 11AM–3PMDon’t let the holidays drive you bananas! Make your own Sock Monkey here

at AVAM!

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM(AVAM) is America’s official national museum for self-taught, intuitive artistry. Founded in 1995, the museum seeks to promote the recognition of intuitive, self-reliant, creative contribution as both an impor-tant historic and essential living piece of treasured human legacy.

What makes us Smile?Main Exhibition SpaceOctober 9, 2010–September 4, 2011“What Makes Us Smile?” is the American Visionary Art Museum’s 16th year-long exhibition — a playful cel-ebration of human joy that is co-curated by renowned creator of The Simpson’s, Matt Groening, artist Gary Panter – best known for his whimsy behind Pee Wee Herman’s Playhouse – and Museum founder Rebecca Hoffberger. “Smile” features the costumes, cartoons, out-loud & 3-D glee-filled surprises created by 90 art-ists, imps, and comedians with accompanying essays, factoids, quotes and blurbs that revel in the history and science behind the gift of laughter.

Out of this worldThird Floor Gallery – thru March 2, 2011On the occasion of the Centennial of the birth of visionary artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein — a baker from Wisconsin — 38 out-of-this-world paint-ings come to AVAM from the Von Bruenchenhein Collection and look dazzling en masse in our 3rd Floor Gallery.

Selections from AVAM's Permanent Collection First Floor GalleryWorks selected from a collection that includes vision-aries such as Paul Darmafall (The Baltimore Glass Man), Martin Ramirez, Mary Proctor, James Harold Jennings, Wayne Kusy, Antonio Alberti and more.

Cabaret Mechanical TheatreJim Rouse Visionary CenterA collection of whimsical, interactive automta from the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre of London.

Screen Painters of Baltimore Jim Rouse Visionary CenterA celebration of screen painting–the uniquely Bal-timore art form. Full-size replica rowhouses house screens painted by Baltimore’s finest. A documentary film, shown in a theater within the rowhomes, shines a light on the artists and their desire to paint.

Public Art Throughout Museum GroundsA three-ton, four-story Whirligig by Vollis Simp-son; Andrew Logan’s Cosmic Space Egg; Adam Kurtzman’s Giant Golden Hand; David Hess’s Bird’s Nest Balcony; Dick Brown’s “Bluebird of Happiness”; the glittering Community Mosaic Wall; Wildflower Sculpture Garden featuring Ben Wilson's wooden meditation chapel/wedding altar, "critters" by Clyde Jones, Ted Ludwiczak's stone heads; and more

Some Handy InfoOur HoursTuesday–Sunday (Closed on Mondays)10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Open Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as AVAM’s tribute to teachers–Everyone is Free!

Closed: Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day

AdmissionAdult $15.95Senior (60 & up) $13.95Student $9.95Group of 10 or more $10 ea.College Group $8 ea.School Group K-12 $6 ea.Children 6 and under Free!

ParkingAbundant metered parking on Covington Street and Key Highway.

Handicapped accessible

Web Sitewww.avam.org

Also Check Out www.pbs.org/independentlens/offthemap

Media ContactPete Hilseepete@avam.org or 410.244.1900 x241

AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM