The Gradual and Inevitable Dissolution of Mickey Mouse

Susan Te Kahurangi King
The Gradual and Inevitable Dissolution of Mickey Mouse
June 27–August 9, 2024

MARCH is pleased to announce The Gradual and Inevitable Dissolution of Mickey Mouse, presenting works dated from 1961 – 2019 installed in chronological order, a testament to the artist’s devotion to the subject and indicative of her larger artistic trajectory. 

Sometime in 1955, Doug King presented his young daughter with a copy of Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge, capturing the moment in several photographs that depict the soon-to-be artist perusing the comic or grinning with imaginative and inquisitive satisfaction. Before long, King began making drawings of her own, incorporating those characters into a fledgling universe, filtered through her own desires and brimming with unflinching curiosity... read more

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An untitled drawing of Mickey Mouse by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1961.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1961
Graphite on paper
10 1/4 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
A detail of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. The paper is molded from King's heavy strokes.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1962-64
Graphite on paper
8 1/8 x 5 inches

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An untitled drawing of Mickey Mouse with large dots and lines by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1961.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1961
Graphite on paper
8 1/8 x 7 inches

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An untitled drawing of Mickey Mouse with an open-mouthed dog-like figure by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1961.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1961-63
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
10 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing of multiple Mickey Mouse's in different colors in a landscape by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated 1962.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 1962
Colored pencil and ballpoint pen on paper
10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches

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Mickey pin, enameled metal, 1 inch (high).
The Petita Cole Collection.

A graphite drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King of an abtracted face and figure with arms, hands, and silhouettes of other characters emerging from its body, dated c. 1965-69.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1965-69
Graphite on found paper
13 7/8 x 13 1/8 inches

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An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing Mickey Mouse smiling and marching in line with Donald Duck and an unkown figure, each wearing hats. Dated circa 1965.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1965
Graphite on found paper
9 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches

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Photo of Susan Te Kahurangi King by Doug King. Courtesy of The Petita Cole Collection.

King remained an artist as she grew up, her images giving us keys into nonverbal expression, connecting us to her in the present through forms, colors, and shapes from the imagination or recognizable in pop culture. It is up to us as the audience to learn to recognize where artistic expression lies so we can continue to open the canon, our eyes, and expand our expectation of what moves us in visual art and where to find it.

–Amanda Millet-Sorsa, The Brooklyn Rail

An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing letters, stars, abstracted forms, a mouse, and others.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1963
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
11 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing a bird, abstracted forms and figures, faces, Mickey Mouse and a floral pattern on a scrapbooked page made by King's grandmother.
A detail of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing a bird, abstracted forms and figures, faces, Mickey Mouse and a floral pattern on a scrapbooked page made by King's grandmother.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 1967
Graphite and ballpoint pen on paper, scrapbooked by King’s grandmother
8 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches

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An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King, showing an abstracted landscape covered in characters: MIckey Mouse, an owl, Donald Duck, Goofy, and other creatures. Dated c. 1962-63.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1962-63
Colored pencil on found paper
15 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing bird figures wearing clothes, looking at a balloon, beachball-like form.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1962-64
Colored pencil on paper
8 x 10 1/4 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing silhouettes of Mickey Mouse, three birds, an alligator, and a turtle with circles and abstract forms.
A detail of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing silhouettes of Mikcye Mouse, three birds, an alligator, and a turtle with circles and abstract forms.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, September 2, 1966
Graphite and ballpoint pen on found paper
8 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches

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A detail of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing silhouettes of Mikcye Mouse, three birds, an alligator, and a turtle with circles and abstract forms.
A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing silhouettes of Mickey Mouse, three birds, an alligator, and a turtle with circles and abstract forms.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled (verso), September 2, 1966
Graphite and ballpoint pen on found paper
8 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches

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Vintage tin clicker toy, circa 1960s.
The Petita Cole Collection.

A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King with three columns, each filled with its own abstracted scene. The left column shows black flowing lines, the middle column shows a lightbulb or candle-like character floating over a landscape, and the right column shows Mickey Mouse and bird-like figures in movement.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 1969
Graphite and colored pencil on found paper
9 3/4 x 7 3/8 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing two columns, each containing a scene with creatures and objects (forks, cups salt and pepper, jugs) in a landscape.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1967-73
Graphite on found paper
9 3/4 x 4 7/8 inches

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An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King divided into three columns and a frame, each section showing an abstracted scene of faces, characters, hands, and colors, dated circa 1967.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1967
Graphite, colored pencil and crayon on found paper
12 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing colorful, abstracted forms, suggesting arms and Mickey Mouse's ears.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1960s
Colored pencil, ballpoint pen and crayon on found paper
5 x 10 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing Mickey Mouse and abstracted shapes.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 1971
Graphite and colored pencil on found paper
4 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches

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A drawing of Mickey Mouse and bird-like figures on a sheet of Northing Printing Co. Ltd. paper, dated c. 1965.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1965
Graphite, colored pencil and crayon on found paper
8 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches

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A drawing of a bird-like figure with abstracted forms by Susan Te Kahurangi King.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1967
Graphite and colored pencil on found paper
6 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches

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A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing Mickey Mouse floating in an abstracted scene.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1969
Graphite and ebony on found paper
8 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches

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Susan Te Kahurangi King, Untitled, c. 1980s, marker on paper, 12 x 18 inches.

The wonder of King’s weirdness isn’t in the activation of some serious politic. It’s in the splendour of her imaginative power and creative capability—a cold-water swim that leaves me feeling immersed in a world of odd possibility, refreshed through exposure to an expansive way of thinking, making, seeing, drawing.

 

–Lachlan Taylor, ARTnews Aotearoa

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1985–89
Pencil and colored pencil on board
12 × 18 inches
Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

An untitled abstract drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1980s. The work is made of thin looping lines and abstracted shapes and figures of Mickey Mouse.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1980s
Graphite, colored pencil on paper
12 x 18 inches

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An untitled abstract drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1980s. The work is made of thin looping lines and abstracted shapes and figures of Mickey Mouse.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, late 1980s
Graphite and marker on paper
12 x 18 inches

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An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing abstracted figures and swirling lines.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1980s
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

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An untitled abstract drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1980s. The work is made of thin looping lines and abstracted shapes and figures of Mickey Mouse.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, late 1980s
Graphite and marker on paper
12 x 18 inches

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An untitled abstract drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated c. 1980s. The work is made of thin looping lines, abstracted shapes, and figures of Mickey Mouse.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 1980s
Marker on paper
11 3/8 x 16 inches

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Susan Te Kahurangi King, 2024.

(King) has created a vast, riveting, and often bewildering universe. It is also a sometimes funny and surprisingly erotic realm, one in which people, animals, cartoonish people, and actual cartoon characters, such as Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny, all appear to have equal significance for her.

–Sanford Schwartz, The New York Review of Books

A drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing an abstracted line drawing with a Mickey Mouse-like figure hidden among cloud-like forms
The reverse of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing an abstracted line drawing with a Mickey Mouse-like figure hidden among cloud-like forms

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 2010-12
Graphite, ballpoint pen and marker on card
13 x 20 inches

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A drawing of Mickey Mouse approaching a swirling portal with a glimpse of blue in the center, by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated 2009.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 2009
Graphite and marker on paper
11 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing of Mickey Mouse approaching a swirling portal by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated 2009.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 2009
Graphite and marker on paper
11 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing of Mickey Mouse approaching a swirling portal by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated 2009.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 2009
Graphite and marker on paper
11 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches

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A drawing of Mickey Mouse disappearing into a swirling portal by Susan Te Kahurangi King, dated 2009.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 2009
Graphite and marker on paper
11 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches

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A colored in image of Mickey Mouse on a swing with words: "Morty Takes A Swing" by Susan Te Kahurangi King.
The reverse of a drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing colored in images of Mickey Mouse.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, c. 2019
Marker and graphite on found paper
11 1/4 x 8 inches

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An untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing abstracted forms.
The reverse of an untitled drawing by Susan Te Kahurangi King showing abstracted forms.

Susan Te Kahurangi King
Untitled, 2019
Graphite and marker on paper
11 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches

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Press Release

Susan Te Kahurangi King
The Gradual and Inevitable Dissolution of Mickey Mouse

June 27–August 9, 2024

 

All four children contracted whooping cough and were treated by a doctor. Susan panicked when seized by coughing spasms … From then on she spoke less and seemed to have lost confidence in herself. Even though she spoke very little she would sing a large repertoire of songs in perfect tune, and sounding all the words. She still retained her usual happy demeanor.

At this time she was introduced to Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse in the Walt Disney comics, and from then on she would spend a lot of time looking at comics and drawing the Disney characters. She is left-handed.

– CASE HISTORY OF SUSAN KING (PERIOD 4) by Doug & Dawn King, c. 1967 

Sometime in 1955, Doug King presented his young daughter with a copy of Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge, capturing the moment in several photographs that depict the soon-to-be artist perusing the comic or grinning with imaginative and inquisitive satisfaction. Before long, King began making drawings of her own, incorporating those characters into a fledgling universe, filtered through her own desires and brimming with unflinching curiosity. 

From the start, King’s parents and grandmother were unusually attentive to Susan’s needs, and kept note of events and observations relevant to her life. The detail of these notes might feel burdensome or banal to the larger world, if it were not for the realities of the artist’s life and the undisputable brilliance of her decades-long personal drawing practice. King’s parents note: “It was reported by a schoolteacher that on one occasion she wandered into a different class when they were being given a difficult puzzle to piece together. While these older children were wondering how to go about it, Susan pushed her way forward, grabbed hold of the puzzle and pieced it together without hesitation. At that time her teacher reported that Susan displayed remarkable mental activity in (the) creation of complicated figures in drawing on paper, and that she was able to concentrate on drawing or on some other interest for hours at a time, whereas other children could not concentrate on one pursuit for very long before their attention would wander.” What feels like a parent and teacher’s proud observation is no more than an early indication of what differentiates King from a large portion of our collective modern society: patience aligned with a spirit of inquiry.

It is unknown when Mickey Mouse first appeared in King’s drawings, as they are not all dated, and neither can we presume they were all kept. However, the earliest dated drawings which include Mickey, are from 1961. He was not the first character to appear in her drawings, nor the most frequent but seems to be the only Disney character to be found in her works since 2008, following her hiatus which lasted around fifteen years. Over the years, King has drawn the iconic mouse in seemingly infinite variations: dissected, pulled apart, contorted, miniaturized or flattened onto blank spaces and found pages but also inserted into alien, jeweled planes. Nowadays, Mickey makes fewer appearances, periodically returning as a shadow of himself, grouped circles and cylinders joined among abstracted and geometric forms. It is perhaps the graphic simplicity of Mickey’s face that continues to engage King as it has other artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Joyce Pensato, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, and countless others.

The Gradual and Inevitable Dissolution of Mickey Mouse presents works dated from 1961 – 2019 installed in chronological order, a testament to the artist’s devotion to the subject and indicative of her larger artistic trajectory. The drawings span from King’s early childhood to present day, gradual in their decades-long timeframe; inevitable because of the one-way direction of her practice, tending toward abstraction but rooted in both memory and formal study.

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