Some Alfred E. Neuman magic in the Berkshires.
By Alan Katz
If you, like me, grew up on MAD Magazine, you have to go now to see the amazing exhibit currently showing at the Norman Rockwell Museum.
If you never saw MAD, never experienced MAD, you really have to go. MAD is nothing less than a part of American culture while spending decades sending up said culture. This wonderful exhibit—lasting until October 27—is at the beautiful Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA in the Berkshires, hosting some of the most iconic artwork from one of the most iconic of American artists.
As a young child who went to summer camp in the 1960s in the Catskill Mountains, specifically Monticello, one of the joys of my adolescent escapism (from home life/camp itself/the world around us) was MAD. I didn’t know what irreverent meant; but I understood funny, and I knew the joy of poking a finger in the eye of authority and others’ meanness.
The Cold War, racism, antisemitism—all had a tremendous effect on me.
Recently, as the owner of The Mountains, I was fortunate enough to join the pre-opening day of the MAD exhibition. I got to meet heroes and learn about those who impacted this forever teen in ways I didn’t even understand until now. Irreverence, great art, the Cold War, suburban malaise, city life in Brooklyn, antisemitism, gender politics, pop culture. All loving targets for MAD.
Room by room you get to walk through the world of MAD, as portrayed by MAD. Chronologically and thematically. From the first covers to the origins of its “mascot,” Alfred E. Neuman. From the first cells of “Spy vs. Spy” and learn how a Cuban immigrant with a target on his back (from Fidel Castro), came to the US and found a home for his wordless political cartoons at MAD, then went on to poke fun at the scariest of subjects, somehow making it tolerable and funny to its readers.
There are rooms dedicated to the genius of Mort Drucker (the great artist and writer) whose social commentary set the stage for countless comedians to follow. There’s the letter from Norman Rockwell himself, where he apologizes for not being able to create the definitive Alfred E. Neuman portrait, as requested and agreed to, because his wife felt it was too off brand. Yes, really! And of course the hysterical and iconic Don Martin, and the mind bending and page folding, fold-in (IYKYK, but all can learn here), rooms dedicated to sarcastic and loving portrayals of great films, television shows, politics and the advertising we all grew up with and sometimes learned about through their hilarious and no-holds-barred satirical eye. In all, great art and spot on writing.
Maybe my favorite and most iconic Norman Rockwell painting is his self-portrait of him doing his self-portrait, and that isn’t spared the MAD eye here, lovingly and maybe even reverentially (of course).
Go for the history, go for the nostalgia, go for the sheer fun. Get to be a kid again, bring a kid and learn about what you might have missed. And the best part is, you get to walk the rest of the museum to see and fully experience the life’s work of Norman Rockwell, himself. Win-win. What a MAD world indeed.
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