All posts by amt

“Crocodile Tears” at Giant Robot NY

Events, Exhibitions, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, , , , , , , ,

Crocodile Tears: Small Works of Art by Over 50 Artists
GRNY, July 19 – August 13, 2008
Reception: Saturday, July 19, 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Giant Robot is proud to present Crocodile Tears: Small Works of Art by Over 50 Artists at the GRNY Gallery.

Following up on 2007’s hugely popular Look Behind You and Snack Isle group shows, Crocodile Tears will feature a large assortment small works that measure 5″ x 7″ or smaller. Each of the over 50 artists (editor’s note: featuring Parsons Illustration alums and faculty!) will be contributing two to five pieces in his or her own eclectic style. Mediums will range from painting to stitching to drawing to sculpture.

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Repost and Reminder: Wallpaper design for Sheila Johnson Design Center

Call for Entries, , , ,

Please take this opportunity to review the following exhibition opportunity, which is perfect for any student in our department and only requires you to submit images of your best work that you have already completed and a short written piece.  (details below:)

In Spring 2008 a group of Parsons faculty, staff and students were selected by the Dean’s Office and Student Senate to form a committee in charge of curating the student wallpaper spaces in the Sheila Johnson Design Center.  These three locations are currently covered with student work that will be rotated for Fall 2008.  Below is the  interim process to receive and select new work for consideration for the NorthEast corner location.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Due July 10th to FalerG01@newschool.edu

We are looking for submissions from students or recent graduates that:

1. Were completed in any class at Parsons (individual or group-based) through Summer 2008

2. Consider the core values as stated in the paragraphs included below.

3. Consider how the wallpaper in these highly visible public spaces can reflect our community.

4. Consider the scale of the architecture.

5. Engage with a social or critical thematic.

Each student can submit up to three images and statements.  Please email your low resolution jpeg or pdf to George Falero at FalerG01@newschool.edu as well as a 100-word statement describing each submission and how it reflects Parsons’ mission statement below.

MISSION STATEMENT: WHY PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DESIGN?
A forerunner in art and design education for over a century

Parsons prepares students to be independent thinkers who creatively and critically address the complex human conditions of 21st century culture. We are committed to creating a diverse learning environment for developing self-reflective practices through studio-based research and critical scholarship in order to make meaningful and sustainable contributions to contemporary global societies. Situated within The New School, Parsons builds on the University’s legacy of progressive ideals, scholarship, and educational methods.  Our faculty challenges convention through a setting and philosophy that encourages formal experimentation, nurtures alternative world-views, and cultivates forward-thinking leaders and creative professionals across multiple fields in a world increasingly influenced by art and design.

PARSONS CORE VALUES
A shared commitment to:

*the urban – understanding New York City and other urban areas as sites where, through engaged research and creative practices, we can work with inhabitants to co-create and co-design, reflecting the urgent needs and possibilities of 21st Century art and design and beyond;

*sustainability – addressing the need to work for both human and environmental sustainability through understanding and designing systems that allow for or produce longevity and renewal;

*diversity – being an institutional leader by working to recruit and retain individuals and communities who have been historically under-represented in art and design schools and the professional fields they help to create. We also recognize our responsibility to consider how all people are impacted by and interact with the goods, systems, and spaces we design;

*the global – nurturing a more nuanced understanding of political and social economies, global dynamics of exchange and production, and historical specificities in order to prepare students to work creatively and ethically in a changing world;

*art/design as an agent for social change – challenging all members of the Parsons community to understand our work in relationship to its social and political possibilities, embodying the legacy of The New School.

The committee will meet to review all submissions and make selections according to the criteria listed above.  Decisions will be announced by August 1st.

Good luck!

Japanese Illustrators in NY Cre8

Exhibitions, General Info, Illustration Industry, ,

Straight from the Illustration Inbox…

JAPANESE ILLUSTRATORS IN NY Cre8-Vol. 5
NY Coo Gallery
July 9th-July 26th, 2008
Opening Reception : July 11th, 5:00PM-7:30PM

“JAPANESE ILLUSTRATORS IN NY Cre8-vol.5” is the fifth installment of group exhibition presented by Cre8 (pronounced “create”), the Japanese artist management agency established in 1972. The company, which represents over 300 illustrators, acts as a bridge that spans artists and businesses.

In Japan, illustrations can be found in every printed medium – from advertisement and magazines to newspapers and even textbooks. As a result, there is an abundance of work opportunities for illustrators including freelancers.

Illustrations were originally conceived as ways to literally ‘illustrate’ complex matters, ideas and information to make them easier to understand, or see. With advancement of computer graphics and new creative materials, as well as growing popularity of anime and manga, the importance of illustrations as communication medium has increased dramatically in recent years. Today, illustrations, with a seemingly endless array of available creative possibilities, have become the centerpiece of Japanese media culture.

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“Tones” a visual music performance

Events, Follow Up, , ,

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We got this email from Professor Ernesto Klar, who taught the recent collaborative class between the Jazz, Animation, and Illustration departments here at Parsons, along with Anezska Sebek and Ben Katchor:

At this time we are in the process of post-producing the video of the Jazz and Animation Collaboration Studio performance that we documented at Theresa Lang Hall this past Spring. This is the original full-length version of the documentary that lasts approximately 10 minutes.

Thanks to MFADT students Andrea Lira and Melissa Marcus for their hard work documenting the work done in this exciting multi-departmental course. Special thanks to Andrea Lira for her post-production work throughout this Summer, and to the New School Communications and External Affairs office for their additional help in producing the shorter version of the documentary (which you can find here).

Thanks for passing this along, Ernesto!  And congratulations to all the students involved.  Job well done!

Parsons Illustration at Comic-con in San Diego!

Events, General Info, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Dept. Events, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, News, , , , , , ,

Parsons will host a panel at Comic-con in July 2008, featuring Parsons Faculty and alumni in a conversation about how art school, and in particular a Parsons Illustration education, prepares young artists to enter these areas of professional activity. The panel is titled:

“Toys, Comics and Characters: Illustrators as Entertainment Entrepreneurs”
Friday, July 25th, 2008
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Comic-con International
Room 32AB
San Diego Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA

Faculty and alumni joining us on the panel include: Tara McPherson (Parsons faculty, Vertigo Comics creator), Abby Denson (Alumna and Lulu Award Winning Cartoonist/Author of Tough Love: High School Confidential), Nora Krug (Parsons faculty, BLAB! contributor and internationally published illustrator) and Brian Wood (Parsons alumnus, iconoclastic indie creator of DMZ among other works).  The event will highlight the Illustration department’s curriculum and career paths our alumni have followed, while offering attendees information on Parsons degree programs.

Following the panel will be an alumni reception hosted by New School Alumni Relations.  Alumni attending Comic-con (or located in Southern California) and industry friends are invited to join Parsons faculty and representatives from Alumni Relations and Career Services for refreshments and conversation.  Details to follow!

Quick Hit: Art at the Fireside Cocktail Cuisine

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Fireside Cocktail Cuisine is an elegant restaurant located in the Omni Berkshire Hotel on East 52nd Street. World travelers and locals alike love Fireside for the innovative cocktail cuisine and wonderful ambiance. The design is simultaneously warm and edgy, and enclosed glass cases throughout the restaurant are ideal for incredible artwork. In addition to a large main fireplace, there are 2 hanging boxes (18” x 48”) and 3 window boxes (13” x 36”).

We are open to students’ creativity and vision, and welcome any appropriate interpretations of a “New York” theme. All artists will be credited in the restaurant and their work will be for sale at the end of the exhibition. Students have the rare opportunity to display their work in a well-known hotel and highly acclaimed restaurant.

If interested, please contact Camilla Warner at JS2 Communications via email at cwarner@js2comm.com.

Tim Okamura’s “Women in White/Bushwick Walls”

Exhibitions, Illustration Faculty, , ,

If you’re in the Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) area, make sure you drop by Adjunct Faculty member Tim Okamura’s show of work:

TIM OKAMURA
“WOMEN IN WHITE / BUSHWICK WALLS”
Up through Saturday, July 19th, 2008

The Women in White/Bushwick Walls series was inspired by a desire to investigate the symbolism of the color of white in several different contexts, while at the same time creating a connection to the “urban collage” that has manifested itself on the walls of the buildings in my neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

While focusing on the walls that were at one time white, “blank canvases”, I observed a fasinating build-up of signage, new and torn posters, random felt marker “tags”, stenciled street art, and more refined graffiti pieces that together formed a complex motif of cultural iconography.  Tempered by peeling paint, rust stains, and decay, this motif served as the basis for my approach to creating “backgrounds” that interact with the subjects of the paintings in a very direct way, the fragments of political and pop culture references interwoven with warning signs, and spray-painted stencils.  Graffiti-lettered words contain moral precepts which effuse hopefulness or cynicism – sometimes both – while in some cases bringing attention to the psycological relationships between the women themselves.

All of the women in these paintings are clad in white, or mostly white, with the intention of examining popular connotations of this color such as purity, innocence, virginity, and virtue – qualities often traditionally ascribe to women as being positive attributes – as well as the lesser known meanings such as while as s symbol of mourning (particularily in Asian cultures).  This in turn led to a scrutiny of many “white” phrases including “white wash”, “white wedding”, and “white lie”, many of which ending up becoming words on “signs” that were collaged onto canvas and eventually covered with layers of paint.

As the significance of “Women in White” changed in context with each subject and contemplation continued of the implications of attributing specific meaning to color, I considered on important argument of basic color theory: white itself in techinically not a color, but a reflection of all colors.

Douglas Udell Gallery
10332 – 124 STREET
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T5N 1R2
780.488.4445

Congrats, Tim!

Call for entries: Green Light VSA Arts competition

Call for Entries, Competitions, Exhibitions, ,

“Contemporary art challenges us…it broadens our horizons.
It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.”

– Eli Broad

A National Juried Exhibition
for Young Artists with Disabilities,
Ages 16-25 

Deadline: Friday, July 11, 2008, midnight (MST)

Grand Prize: $20,000
First Award: $10,000
Second Award: $6,000
12 Awards of Excellence: $2,000

Sponsored by VSA arts with generous assistance from Volkswagen of America, Inc.

A green light signals “GO!” and permission to proceed. What revs you up as an artist and moves you to create? What signals the spark of creativity? Imagine that you receive a signal to drive your own future. Describe the experience and how you will direct your route – both artistically and personally. How does art give you permission to be who you are? Consider the infinite possibilities that art (or creativity) provides.

We are interested in both representational and abstract work. Artwork may illustrate actual aspects of what signals your creative motivations such as the physical world or personal discoveries. Abstract work that relates to feelings or emotions is also encouraged. Work might also reflect your experience of living with a disability and its role in shaping or transforming your work.

VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where all people with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts. VSA arts provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to support arts programming in schools and communities. VSA arts showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access to the arts for people with disabilities. Each year millions of people participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates and in more than 60 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Visit the competition’s website for details about how to enter, the theme, eligibility, and more.  Good luck!