For decades, Roz Chast has brought a satirical bite to the pages of The New Yorker, with more than 1,200 cartoons published in the iconic magazine.
Her art is now on show at the Museum of the City of New York in the newly opened “Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs.”
The exhibit features more than 200 works by Chast, including New Yorker cartoons and prints from her memoir “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” Also on display — a small collection of belongings hoarded by Chast’s mother taken from what Chast dubs the “crazy closet,” and other projects that Chast worked on in her spare time, including a collection of dyed eggs.
A Brooklyn native, born in 1954, Chast grew up as an only child to a middle income family in the heart of Midwood. In 1978, her work began to appear in The New Yorker.
As a child, “[drawing] was a secret kind of outlet,” Chast said during a preview of the exhibition. “I could write down what I really thought about things without sticking in anybody’s craw, so to speak.”
Her dark humor runs in the same vein as that of Woody Allen and Nora Ephron, highlighting the anxieties and insecurities that plague life.
One running theme in Chast’s work is the perspective of a New Yorker that leaves the city.
And while her comedy mostly revolves around NYC and her style is emblematic of New York humor, her appeal stretches beyond the city.
“Our hope is that Roz’s quintessentially New York sense of humor will help everyone digest and appreciate the silliness and oddities that make the five boroughs so special,” said the Museum of the City of New York’s Whitney Donhauser.
If you go: “Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs” is on now through Oct. 9 at the Museum of the City New York, 1220 5th Ave., 212-534-1672, Open daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Adults $14, Seniors & Students $10, Kids FREE
