Chicago native Chris Ware is perhaps best known for his graphic novel “Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth,” from 2000. Ware’s genius comes from his ability to draw in a multitude of literary, visual, graphic and cinematic techniques to create texts that are so densely packed they can be, well, a bit daunting. It is easy to get lost reading a single page of a book by Ware over and over, admiring the text, the layout, the tiny cut-out models Ware includes so that those of us who are spatially challenged may create a mock-up of the environment his characters inhabit. Currently installed at Carl Hammer is work from Ware’s most recent publications, “The Acme Novelty Library #17” and “#18.” “#17” continues the story of Rusty Brown, a pensive fourth grader; while “#18” returns to Ware’s “Building Stories,” roughly set in 2000 in a Chicago apartment building. (Kristin Brockman)
Through May 24 at Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells. (312)266-8512.
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