Redrawn: Celebrating 45 years of MR. MEN™ & LITTLE MISS™

With their simple storylines, bright colours and boldly drawn illustrations, it wasn’t long before Roger Hargreaves’s MR. MEN™ series became a worldwide phenomenon. The first title, ‘Mr. Tickle’, was created in 1971 after Hargreaves’s son Adam asked him what a tickle would look like, and dozens of books followed, including the LITTLE MISS™ titles in 1981. Today there are over 80 books in the series and a global market for merchandise.

As part of Vivid Ideas and Vivid Sydney 2016, artists from Australia and overseas created their own versions of these iconic characters that were featured in a month-long exhibition that celebrated 45 years of the MR. MEN™ & LITTLE MISS™ worlds.

This was the first time permission was given for the characters to be reinterpreted based on the individual styles of the featured artists, who  included 123KLAN (Mr. Chatterbox), Ben Brown (Mr. Tickle), Bei Badgirl (Little Miss Hug), Jeremyville (Mr. Happy) and Meggs (Mr. Messy), amongst others.

Curated by Eddie Zammit, and presented by aMBUSH Gallery, Darling Quarter and T-world, this world-first exhibition provided viewers with a unique insight into the world of the artists, and a fresh take on the characters of known to generations.

‘Redrawn: Celebrating 45 years of MR. MEN™ & LITTLE MISS™’ was open 24 hours, 7 days a week from 1 June – 30 June at OPEN, aMBUSH’s outdoor public art space in Darling Quarter’s Civic Connector. A pop-up shop was run by T-world each Wednesday to Sunday, from midday – 9pm during June.

What: ‘Redrawn: Celebrating 45 years of MR. MEN™ & LITTLE MISS™’
Where: OPEN Public Art Space, Darling Quarter (1-11 Harbour Street, Sydney)
When: 1-30 June, 24/7
Cost: FREE