Sail Away – Oceans, Seas, Rivers, and Rainstorms

There’s a lovely exhibit currently on show at the Morgan Library. It’s the work of artist-illustrator Ashley Bryan (see below for the Morgan’s description.)

Many of the pieces are collages in the vibrant colors of the kind of elementary school construction paper. I could imagine school group trips and the response to the words and the pictures as inspiring “I could do that” responses”. For these are deceptively simple illustrations and collages often with poems cut from the books taped on the paper.

Upsilimana Tumpalerado and the Turtle

 

 

Turtle Knows Your Name 1988 with words and illustrations by Bryan is based on a Caribbean folk-tale. A wise old turtle helps the boy with the very long name discover the name of his grandmother. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seascape

The Trip to San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F for Freedom

 

 

“There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say
On my heart-strings freedom sings
All day everyday.”

• Langston Hughes, Refugee in America 1943

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paula The Cat

Paula the cat is as happy as house cats can be. But she finds a boat locked up in a moat and has the urge to go off to sea.

And so she does – but without an owl and a pot of honey wrapped up in a five-pound not. 

The poem is by Nikki Giovanni from her collection I am loved. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibit is a spirit-lifting delight. Catch it if you can.

Ashley Bryan & Langston Hughes: Sail Away at the Morgan Library

Throughout his long life and career, the artist Ashley Bryan created and illustrated children’s books that celebrated Black life and Black creativity. This exhibition focuses on his 2015 book Sail Away, in which Bryan paired poems by Langston Hughes on the subject of water—oceans, seas, rivers, and rainstorms—with his own vibrant cut-paper collages. The original collages, now in the Morgan’s permanent collection, will be joined by paintings, prints, photographs, recordings, and some work in unusual formats, such as Bryan’s puppets made from sea glass, shells, and other found materials, to explore the conversation between these two great Black artists and the role of seas and rivers in their work.