INSIGHTS & OUTSIGHTS: The Collages and Cartoons of Paul Darrow

For pictures of the opening reception, click here.
Read about it in the Claremont Courier

To complement the new ARToon education program, the Claremont Museum of Art saluted Claremont’s own cartoonist, Paul Darrow, with an exhibition of original sketches from his sixty years of Courier cartoons and recent work in mixed media.

INSIGHTS & OUTSIGHTS: The Collages and Cartoons of Paul Darrow was on display May 3-5 and May 8-12 from noon to 5pm at the Claremont Heritage Ginger Elliott Exhibition Space in Memorial Park.

The opening reception was held Friday, May 3 from 6:30-8:30pm. The exhibition was curated by Skip Pahl, retired director of the Oceanside Museum of Art, and Catherine McIntosh with assistance from CMC student Bailey Yellen. Sponsors included Claremont Heritage, Peggy A. Carlson, Wealthcare Capital Management, Inc., Wheeler Steffen Sotheby’s International Reality, and the Claremont Courier.

Paul Darrow came to Claremont to study art at Claremont Graduate School after serving in WWII. He began submitting cartoons to the Claremont Courier when Martin Weinberger purchased the paper in 1954 and soon created a devoted fan base in the community. Darrow used his attention to detail to create thousands of cartoons, representing his interpretation of the social and political atmosphere of the time.

A professor of art at Scripps College from 1954 to 1992, Darrow taught courses in drawing, filmmaking, printmaking, and an extremely popular mixed media class. Throughout these years, he created close relationships with students and colleagues that had a huge impact on his work as an artist. Darrow relocated to Laguna Beach in the 1970s, where he drew inspiration from the coastal scenery for his paintings and mixed media collages. For decades, he has created introspective snapshots of his world through a combination of found objects and Polaroid film. Today, the 91-year-old Darrow continues to draw, paint, and collage at his home.

– Bailey Yellen