Image: Walter Wick (American, born Hartford, Connecticut, 1953), City Blocks, from I SPY Fantasy, 1994, pigmented inkjet photograph, New Britain Museum of American Art, gift of Walter Wick and Linda Cheverton Wick. © 1994 Walter Wick.
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta will open ‘I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders’ on August 28, presenting what the museum describes as the largest survey of Walter Wick’s work to date. The exhibition runs through January 3, 2027, and centers on the American photographic illustrator best known for the ‘I SPY!’ and ‘Can You See What I See?’ children’s book series.
According to the museum, the show will gather Wick’s celebrated photographs alongside the three-dimensional sets behind them. The exhibition is organized by the New Britain Museum of American Art, and the High says it is the latest in its exhibition series devoted to the art and authors of children’s books. The presentation is being mounted in Atlanta, where the museum has positioned the show as part of its broader photography and family-oriented programming.
Wick, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1953, has built a decades-long career around images that ask viewers to look closely. The High’s exhibition text describes him as one of the nation’s most famous photographic illustrators, and notes that his award-winning books have captivated readers across generations by combining art, craft and technology. The museum also frames his work as a blend of storytelling and discovery rather than straightforward illustration.
The exhibition will include works such as ‘Yikes!’, ‘Clouds’ and ‘City Blocks’ from ‘I SPY Fantasy’, along with rarely seen material. The High says visitors will also see Wick’s early photographs of optical illusions in nature and numerous three-dimensional models on which his photographs were based. The installation is organized around themes that have long interested the artist, including miniature worlds, optical illusions, ‘I spy’ games, puzzle challenges and the wonders of science.
A promotional message from the museum emphasizes the interactive character of the presentation, describing ordinary scenes turned into fantastical puzzles and inviting visitors to slow down and search for hidden details. The museum says the galleries will encourage children and adults to look side by side, with hidden elements built into the models for viewers to spot. That emphasis on close looking aligns with Wick’s own picture-making method, in which the image and the constructed set are presented as part of the same imaginative process.
The exhibition adds to a busy run of spring and summer programming at the High, which also has other exhibitions currently on view, including ‘Amy Sherald: American Sublime’, ‘Paper Trees’, ‘Los Porfiados (The Stubborns)’ and ‘New Acquisitions: Photography’. For ‘I SPY! Walter Wick’s Hidden Wonders’, tickets are not yet available, and the museum says visitors can sign up for its newsletter to be notified when sales begin.
