Tony DiTerlizzi, Artwork for A Very Cranky Book by Angela DiTerlizzi. Collection of the artist. © 2023 Tony & Angela DiTerlizzi.
Pictures at Play: Metafiction in Art
The art in this exhibition contains an extraordinary sense of playfulness and surprise. It comes from metafictive books: those that tell stories about stories and about the art of storytelling itself. Artists experiment with styles, typography, and page design to delightfully disrupt the rules of how books usually work.
Travel through stories that break the fourth wall, where narrators and characters directly address the reader. Witness familiar characters acting out of character or find stories that contain other stories in them. In blurring the lines between author, narrator, and reader, these books subvert our expectations about the real world and the world of fiction.
Curated by Cathryn M. Mercier, PhD
What to Expect
Guests can enjoy work by 29 artists in a variety of media. They can read books and “remix” story titles on a magnetic bookshelf. Gallery graphics add a sense of surrealism.
Barbara Lehman, Artwork for Red Again. Collection of Barbara Lehman. © 2017 Barbara Lehman.
E. B. Goodale, Artwork for Here and Now by Julia Denos. Collection of the Artist. © 2019 E. B. Goodale.
Julie Morstad, Artwork for It Began with a Page. Collection of the artist. © 2019 Julie Morstad.
Melissa Sweet, Artwork for Little Red Writing by Joan Holub (Chronicle Books). Collection of the artist. © 2017 Melissa Sweet.
Oge Mora, Artwork for The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard. Collection of the artist. © 2020 Oge Mora.
Dan Santat, Artwork for Drawn Together by Minh Lê by Minh Lê. Collection of the artist. © 2018 Dan Santat.
