“City Mouse Family” (1983), by Malcolm Myers.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY RUBINE RED GALLERY
Over six decades, the revered Minnesota printmaker and printer Malcolm Myers (1924–2002) based bodies of work on themes such as jazz, the Wild West, Don Quixote, figuration, and abstraction. He also created creature characters, which populate the exhibition Animalia, running from Feb. 9 to March 4, 2024, at Rubine Red Gallery in Palm Springs. An opening reception is set for Feb. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The exhibition includes roughly 30 paintings and intaglio prints, including several that feature his City Mouse character, as well as the humorous “Smokin’ Bluebird” and “Crossing the Road.” Among the owls, pigs, and cows, there’s also a bull depicted wonderfully in watercolor and black ink.
“It is a huge body of his work and continues to be very popular,” gallery owner Jason Howard says of Myers’ animal series. “People love the whimsy and the happy nature of the animals.”
“Lobster Quadrille” (1998), by Malcolm Myers.
“Mr.Possum”(1962), by Malcolm Myers.
Rubine Red represents the late artist’s estate, including more than 400 intaglio editions and about 150 paintings on canvas and on paper. Last year, the gallery mounted Myers in Paris, an exhibition focusing on the artist’s works from 1952.
“I was recently in Minnesota, where his studio was, and discov- ered many more animal works,” Howard says. “I cannot wait to show folks.”