Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic

Feb 26 - May 26
BYU: Museum of Art
Free Admission

M-F, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
SAT, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

wick.byu.edu


Buttons, marbles, dice, rubber frogs, and plastic airplanes are not the "treasures" usually seen in an art museum. But in the exhibition Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos, and Toys in the Attic these objects are the building blocks of the imaginative world of Walter Wick, photographer and author of the popular children's book series I Spy (with Jean Marzollo) and Can You See What I See?

Wick interweaves stories, puzzles, and optical games to invite playful interaction with pictures and words. His puzzles tantalize readers - of all ages - honing observation skills and encouraging a creative and complex relationship between language and image. Starting with a concept for a series of images that will ultimately form a book, Wick collaborates with model makers and scene artists to construct individual compositions that are then photographed. The whimsical objects that populate his photographs come from the vast collection of beads, clips, shells, games pieces, plastic animals and more that fills his Connecticut studio.

In this exhibition, photographs and models escape the book to assume a larger than life presence that magically draws both children and adults into a world of make believe. Wick then pulls back the curtain and invites his audience on a backstage tour. Viewers have the opportunity to explore the making of the images through photographs, models, and videos.

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Additional events include:

Opening Day Party for Families
Games and activities with an appearance by Walter Wick
February 26, 2009
3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Artist's Lecture
February 26, 2009
7 pm, Museum of Art Auditorium (lower level)

Wick @ Nite: Discover the Fun
Thursday, March 5 - April 2, 2009
7 pm, Museum of Art Auditorium (lower level)

Family Art Days: Games,
Gizmos and Play at the MOA
June 11, 2009
10 am to 3 pm

Group tours are available. Please call the Museum of Art Education Department at (801) 422-1140 at least one week in advance.

Admission to the museum and associated events is free of charge. For more information about this exhibition or the events listed on this page, call the museum at (801) 422-8287 or send an e-mail to moa@byu.edu.