In his lifetime Charles M.Schulz created and published 17,897 Peanuts comic strips, his widow Jean Schulz to whom he was married for 27 years, joins us from the U.S. for one night only to share her personal insights into the mind behind the modest maker and how his ‘little incidents’ became a societal movement of their own.
Alongside Jean exhibiting artist and Peanuts fanatic, Andy Holden, looks to reflect on the impact that Charles’ work has had on his own artworks and ways of working, inspiring paintings, 3D works and film pieces. Holden’s new film installation for the Good Grief. Charlie Brown! exhibition Oh! My friends there is no friend, 2014–18, examines friendship and how it is shaped by the media we consume. The film is comprised of four cells, echoing the layout of a Peanuts strip, linked by a voice-over provided by the artist, via a CGI bootleg of Charlie Brown.
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Together the two unpick the underlying investigations of the original strips, drawing on their relevance both then and now. The line-up of child characters said to be the psyche of Charles Schulz himself take us on a journey through life’s questions, challenging society, politics, faith and much more. And while our loveable Peanuts offer no direct answers they ensue a strong sense of human rights and justice reassuring readers that their troubles are shared and therefore soothed through collective understanding.
