Description
(Text)
This is the eagerly awaited second edition of Ode to Happiness, a grown-up s picture book and a charming reminder
not to take oneself too seriously. With drawings by painter Alexandra Grant, text by actor Keanu Reeves, and in
collaboration with mutual friend Janey Bergam, this facsimile artists book is about making the best of a bad situation.
In the tradition of a classic hurtin song , Reeves text externalizes a melancholy internal monologue and subtly pokes
fun at it. Grant s images, delicately realised in sombre inky washes, reflect the dark and light, the pathos and humour
of the text. Neither entirely earnest nor wholly ironic, Ode to Happiness is both a meditation and a gentle tease about
how we cope with life s sorrows.
Los Angeles based artist Alexandra Grant uses language and words as the basis for her paintings, drawings and
sculptures. Grant has exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the California
Biennial, Orange County Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore. She has collaborated with artists
and writers including Michael Joyce and Hélène Cixous, and is a founding member of the Watts House Project in Los
Angeles.
Keanu Reeves, born in 1964 in Beirut, is a celebrated actor and writer. Reeves films include Point Break (1991), Speed
(1994), The Matrix (1999) and the upcoming Jekyll. His theatrical roles include an acclaimed portrayal of Shakespeare s
Hamlet.
