Buffalo, NY
History is a funny thing. Well, perhaps not funny so much as sad, infuriating, and often as not, very hard to believe. Caitlin Cass mines the endless trove that is the past to make engrossingly dry comics and installations that tell forgotten tales in ways designed to tickle contemporary humors and also make them twitch with minor pain. Through drawings wittily styled to mimic the aesthetics of their time, Cass recounts not the great moments of history books but the not-so-great ones. And why not? Failures—like those of R.R. Whitehead and Benjamin Rathbun (you’ll have to read her limited edition publications for the details)—provide important lessons in human flaw and error. Just imagine what Cass’s successors will make when they look back on today.
—Lori Waxman 11/12/16 12:10 PM