All posts by amt

Call for Entries: Buckminster Fuller Challange

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The Buckminster Fuller Institute announces the call for entries to the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual $100,000 prize program to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.  Here’s the official press release:

We all understand in part or whole the magnitude of the complex challenges facing humanity today; from climate change, energy and resource management, to keeping the ever-increasing human population fed for generations to come. Challenges of this magnitude require bold, visionary strategies; they require what Buckminster Fuller called “a design revolution”. Pieces of the complex puzzle to create an enduringly sustainable future for all are out there, but it will take more than an innovative gadget, isolated technological breakthrough, policy or process development to tackle the problems of our complex and interconnected world.

“We’re looking for comprehensive anticipatory design solutions that address multiple problems without creating new ones down the road – integrated strategies dealing with key social, economic, environmental, policy and cultural issues. Our entry criteria is deeply inspired by what Fuller termed comprehensive anticipatory design science – a methodological approach to solving complex problems that we feel holds an important key to how innovators need to be thinking about the design of strategies if they are to have a transformative effect on the system as a whole.” explains Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

After decades of tracking world resources, innovations in science and technology, and human needs, Fuller asserted that options exist to successfully surmount the crises of unprecedented scope and complexity facing all humanity – he issued an urgent call for a design science revolution to make the world work for all.

ANSWERING THIS CALL IS WHAT THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT!

-The deadline for entries is midnight (Eastern time) on OCTOBER 30, 2009.

-For the call for entries, instructions for how to enter, reference materials, and much more, visit: http://challenge.bfi.org

Poems for Pictopia featuring Parsons Illustration folks!

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The 2009 Pictoplasma Conference at the House of World Cultures in Berlin brought together character designers and enthusiasts from around the world.  “Poems for Pictopia” is a short glimpse of some of the highlights of the conference and the accompanying exhibition “Prepare for Pictopia”. This rad video ALSO features our very own program chair Steven Guarnaccia, plus Alumni AJ Fosik and Motomichi Nakamura!

Jordin Isip and James Gallagher in Move #19

1369_001MOVE #19

“He said- he was enjoying the donuts for the most part, and laughing hysterically?”
A Collection of Works Curated by Rich Jacobs

FIFTY24SF is proud to host the 19th installment of Rich Jacob’s renowned “Move” series.

“Move” is an ever evolving group exhibition that boasts a myriad of artists from across the U.S. Everyone one from Jordin Isip and Evan Hecox to Dave Ellis and Barry McGee have been involved in one or more versions of the “ Move” movement.  Rich Jacobs, the founder and curator, has been keeping the “Move” alive for over ten years and continues to bring some of the best artists together for the eclectically composed event. Mixing various styles and mediums to the point of (what would seem like) chaos, Rich builds an orchestra of sensory stimuli.

Who is Rich Jacobs?

This internationally renowned artist is recognized as much for his distinctive illustrations as his role as a successful and innovative curator for more than a decade. Jacob’s natural ability to unite the best talent under one roof stems from his genuine nature and, the desire to expose the public to good art and artists. He has a unique way of cherishing the everyday details of life, and recreates the chaos of the daily hustle by engaging over 20 artists to participate in each new edition of “MOVE” Rather than stick to one aesthetic, Rich pulls from a well of talent, mixing photographers and writers to graphic designers and illustrators for a well rounded experience.

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 1st, 2009, 7-9:30pm
Runs thru: Oct. 1st, 2009 – Oct. 28th, 2009
FIFTY24SF
248 Fillmore St.
SF,CA,94117

Urban Arts Fest this weekend!

urban arts fest

Come on out on October 3 for the first MBP Urban Arts Fest! The two-part, one-day festival will go from 1PM-2AM. The whole day is about the thriving urban art community MBP has advocated since its inception. With skateboard demos and contests, live painting, music and DJs, photography and art installations and plenty of art and books for sale, there will be something for everyone!

MBP will be taking over and transforming the entire lower-half of Castle Braid (114 Troutman Street, Myrtle Ave/Bwy JMZ Train) in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The day’s first part runs from 1PM-9PM and is open to all ages; 8PM-2AM is 21 and over, featuring free beer and a dance party.

Their non-profit beneficiary is Art for Progress, an organization dedicated to supporting rising multi-discipline arts in New York City.

What to expect:

• Gallery-style art installations
• Live graffiti exhibitions & public graffiti wall
• Live entertainment, DJs, dance & musical performances
• Skate park & sponsored game of S.K.A.T.E hosted by Substance Skateboards
• First 500 guests receive a FREE copy of Talk Balk: The Bubble Project by Ji Lee
• Special Guest Signings
• Free corresponding entry to the Brooklyn Artillery Art Fair at the location, hosted by the Williamsburg Gallery Association
• All Ages Arts & Crafts: postal sticker tagging how-to; design your own “Umberto” character from Dutch artisit/illustrator Tijn Snoodijk; make-your-own recycled material tote bags with Bags for the People, design your own canvas laptop case from AIAIAI and more!
• Local & International Artist Showcases & Tables
• Unveiling of exclusive OBEY x PEEL poster by Shephard Fairey for Peel Magazine (authors of MBP’s PEEL: The Art of the Sticker)
• Shopping (MBP bookstore & Local Artists’ offerings)
• Food & Drinks (Brooklyn Brewery, Hoegaarden, Food Trucks)
• Gift Bags & Prizes – with bags from Bags for the People, goodies from MimobotsCafe Bustelo,Zoo YorkAIAIAI and more!

ARTISTS/SPECIAL GUESTS
• Martha Cooper, Going Postal
• Remo Camerota, Graffiti Japan
• Ji Lee, Talk Back: The Bubble Project
• Luz A. Martín, Textura: Valencia Street Art
• Artists from ORBIT Gallery (featured in upcoming EdgyCute book: Joe Scarano, Angie Mason, Michael Caines, Chris Uminga, Motomich Nakamura, BECCA, Emma Overman, Robbie Busch; and Frank Sheehan)
• Special Guest Curator Mighty Tanaka (with art from: avone, JMR, Hellbent, Alexandra Pacula, Peter Halasz, Mike Schreiber, AVOID PI, FARO, Royce Bannon, BLOKE, Mari Keeler, John Breiner, Skewville)
• Tijn Snoodijk of Shop Around – Netherlands
• RobotsWillKill (featured in Going PostalPEEL: The Art of the Sticker)
• Project Super Friends
• Royce Bannon (featured in Going Postal)
• Chris Stain (featured in Going Postal)
• Destroy & Rebuild
• Cosbe (featured in Going Postal)
• CR
• Abe Lincoln Jr.
• IndigoMania
• El Celso
• Chalk drawings by Ellis Gallagher

PERFORMANCES
Hosted by: iLLspokinN
Termanology
Cormega
DJ Statik Selektah
DJ GSUS187
Krts (Powerstrip Circus)
Hot 97’s DJ Juanyto
Guest DJ Jason Mizell (son of Jam Master Jay)
Outabodies
Michael Brian
True2Life
Ad Lawless
Goodomens
Greenberet Team
Quan
Spokinn Movement
William B. Johnson’s Drumadics

SHOWCASES/VENDORS (list in progress)
Sabrina Beram
Abztract
Fresthetic
Owen Jones & Billy Hahn
Peter Moschel Johnson
JemmanimalsJohn Bent
Natasha Quam/L’Ange Atelier
Dawn of Man Productions
Katie Jean Hopkins
Stephanie Paz
Alessandro Echevarria
Spost Love
iinex grafik
Andrea Grannum-Mosley
Gully Klassics
Clazzi & Qool Accessories

ADMISSION: $15 cash at the door, $10 in advance – come & go the whole day. Buy your tickets here!

OFFICIAL BLOG: BrooklynStreetArt.com

Nathan Bond’s Work in “Preparations: Artists’ Sketchbooks and Journals”


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Parsons Illustration Adjunct Nathan Bond is featured in ” Preparations: Artists’ Sketchbooks and Journals” at the the Tower Fine Arts Center in Brockport, NY.  Much of the development for an artwork happens well before the brush meets canvas, the hand meets clay, or the finger meets camera, etc. These preliminary inspirations and concepts go mostly unnoticed and unappreciated. This exhibit, curated by gallery director Tim Massey, brings to light the methods artists employ to inform themselves of the possibilities for their as yet unrealized works.

The Tower Fine Arts Center is located on the north side of Holley Street in the village of Brockport. Parking Lot G is located adjacent to the Tower Fine Arts Center and handicapped parking is available at the front of the building.
350 New Campus Drive
Brockport, NY
585.395.2805

Show on view through Tuesday, October 13
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 1 pm – 4 pm

Abby Denson’s Dolltopia hits NYC!

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Dolltopia
Saturday, October 3, 2009, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m
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Giant Robot is proud to celebrate the release of Dolltopia with a signing by writer and artist Abby Denson (Parsons Illustration Alum!).

A natural follow-up to Denson’s critically acclaimed, self-published, yaoi-influenced comic zine about high-school love, Tough Love (which became a Lulu Award-winning anthology in 2007), Dolltopia is a highly stylized depiction of dolls trying to bust out of the stereotypical boxes that they are packaged in. Will the protagonists, who resemble Barbie and G.I. Joe, liberate themselves from their suburban and he-man trappings? The art is disarmingly simple and the raw storytelling has the rare quality of being able to tap into a reader’s recollections of youthful confusion and feel genuine to young people themselves.

In addition to Denson signing copies of her work, there will be cupcakes and a doll makeover contest. Whoever brings the best made-over doll will receive a signed copy of Dolltopia!

Denson will be signing the long-awaited graphic novel from 6:00 to 8:00 on Saturday, October 3.

Giant Robot Gallery
437 East 9th Street
Between 1st Ave.& Ave. A, in the East Village
New York, New York 10009
(212) 674-GRNY(4769) | grny.net

RIP: Bernie Fuchs

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The illustration world recently lost one of it’s brightest stars, Bernie Fuchs.  Here’s a portion of his obituary from the New York Times that covers some of his wonderful accomplishments:

Mr. Fuchs’s work, once a mainstay of leading magazines like Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, TV Guide and Sports Illustrated, featured meticulous renderings of the clothes and coiffures of men from dinner jackets to cardigans, and of women from house dresses to cocktail dresses.

In the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Fuchs’s alluring illustrations for fiction and nonfiction articles on themes of romance, adventure and sports, typically capturing clean-cut men and women of the middle and upper-middle classes in candid and naturalistic poses, established a stylistic standard for editorial and advertising art of the day. His portraits of John F. KennedyLyndon B. Johnson and later United States presidents were more human in both pose and expression than most other official portraits.

When Kennedy’s portrait was finished, the president was so delighted that he had it sent to the Soviet Union as part of a traveling exhibition. Johnson, however, was stone faced when he saw his portrait for the first time. Mr. Fuchs showed him putting his glasses in his suit pocket; apparently the president did not want anyone to know he wore glasses.

Mr. Fuchs (pronounced Fewks) was a prominent member of a group of illustrators called the Westport school, because for years many of them lived in and around Westport. His work was so popular that it was routinely mimicked by illustrators and students. He was not bothered by creative pilfering and shared his methods and techniques, first as an instructor for the Famous Artists School, one of the best-known correspondence courses, and later as a founder of the Illustrators Workshop. The Ivy League of commercial art programs, the workshop was taught by the illustrators Alan E. Cober, Fred Otnes, Mark English, Robert Heindel and Bob Peak. Artists from all over the country applied to study there with Mr. Fuchs.

Read the entire write-up of his life here.

Silent Pictures on Fifth Avenue

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Silent Pictures
Through October 11, 2009

“Silent Pictures” is inspired by artist Art Spiegelman’s collection of wordless books – mostly black and white artist books from the 1930s. The exhibition features these books, as well as more recent “abstract comics,” and a related film program, which investigates essential qualities and aesthetics of this hugely popular medium.

The abstract comics, compiled by Andrei Molotiu for Abstract Comics, Fantagraphics Books, 2009, call attention to formal mechanisms that underlie all comics. Where the earlier art collected by Spiegelman retains a narrative thrust, the comics gathered by Molotiu emphasize dynamic graphics that lead the eye and mind from panel to panel, suggesting that these structural elements are fundamental to the emotional register of the medium.

The exhibition includes a wall drawing by Renee French, an animation by Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards, and a project for the Fifth Avenue lobby windows by Gail Fitzgerald and Carl Ostendarp. “Comic-Film-Strips,” a related film program featuring mostly wordless, animated, historic films, is curated by Columbia University art historian Noam Elcott.

Book Signing

Thursday September 10, 56 PM
Jim Hanley’s Universe, 4 West 33rd Street, New York, NY
Editor Andrei Molotiu and some of the contributing artists will sign copies of Abstract Comics: The Anthology.

Curator Walk-through

Friday September 11, 6 PM
With Andrei Molotiu

Abstract Comics: A Panel Discussion

Saturday September 12, 4 PM
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
594 Broadway, Suite 401, New York

Comic-Film-Strips: Noam Elcott in Conversation

Friday September 25, 67:30 PM
The Graduate Center Skylight Lounge (9th Floor)
Art historian Noam Elcott will discuss the exhibition’s animated film program, which he curated as part of the “Silent Pictures” exhibition, in the context of twentieth-century avant-garde cinema.