Category Archives: Events

Electric Windows in Beacon, May 17th-18th!

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ELECTRIC WINDOWS
BEACON, NY
May 17th-18th

24 street artists will converge in Beacon, NY from May 17th to May 18th to create live artwork and have their work installed on the exterior of a 19th century factory building. Electric Windows draws its name from the former electric blanket factory at the foot of Mount Beacon that will act as the backdrop for the event. E.W. turns the idea of a gallery inside out using the large industrial windows as frames for each artists work. Usually street art is not so easily contained in a rectangle but this installation ingeniously bridges the gap between indoor and outdoor art both inverting and subverting the concept of the art gallery. Each of the 24 pieces will be approximately 8 ft x 12 ft. The installation will be on display for 12 months.

Electric Windows coincides with the fifth anniversary of DIA:Beacon and Sitelines, a Hudson Valley arts fair. The project will be documented from the beginning of the weekend through completion of the installation for possible future publication.

There will be a companion show of Electric Windows artists at the Open Space gallery (owned by Adjunct Illustration Faculty Dan Weise!). Featured artists include Ron English (NYC), Above (San Francisco), Ripo (Barcelona), Lady Pink (NYC), Michael De Feo (NYC), Jim Darling/Tina Andersen (Los Angeles), Rick Price (Beacon), Peripheral Media Projects (Brooklyn) and Dan Funderburgh (Brooklyn) and many more…

Organizers will also be flying in DJs for the latest version of Next Step, a live art and dance party that has been gaining ground as the place for locals and expats from Brooklyn and Manhattan alike.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

If you are interested in volunteering to help out with various odd jobs, please contact Dan Weise as soon as possible! Beacon is easily accessible by train from New York City, so don’t let the commute frighten you off. This is a great opportunity to be involved in a dynamic project.

This weekend should be an unprecedented convergence of the arts from live street art to high end museum pieces that will have heads turning to Beacon.

Electric Windows Beacon
1 East Main Street
Beacon, New York
May 17th-18th

Howard Zinn’s illustrated “A People’s History of the American Empire”

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Historian and activist Howard Zinn, working with comic artist Mike Konopacki, has produced an illustrated book called A People’s History of the American Empire. Here’s an excerpt from the publisher’s write-up:

Adapted from the bestselling grassroots history of the United States, the story of America in the world, told in comics form.

Since its landmark publication in 1980, A People’s History of the United States has had six new editions, sold more than 1.7 million copies, become required classroom reading throughout the country, and been turned into an acclaimed play. More than a successful book, A People’s History triggered a revolution in the way history is told, displacing the official versions with their emphasis on great men in high places to chronicle events as they were lived, from the bottom up.

Now Howard Zinn, historian Paul Buhle, and cartoonist Mike Konopacki have collaborated to retell, in vibrant comics form, a most immediate and relevant chapter of A People’s History: the centuries-long story of America’s actions in the world. Narrated by Zinn, this version opens with the events of 9/11 and then jumps back to explore the cycles of U.S. expansionism from Wounded Knee to Iraq, stopping along the way at World War I, Central America, Vietnam, and the Iranian revolution. The book also follows the story of Zinn, the son of poor Jewish immigrants, from his childhood in the Brooklyn slums to his role as one of America’s leading historians.

Shifting from world-shattering events to one family’s small revolutions, A People’s History of American Empire presents the classic ground-level history of America in a new form.

Grab your copy here!

Bonus: Here’s a short film called “Empire or Humanity?: What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire” by Howard Zinn and narrated by Viggo Mortensen.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg&hl=en]

Extra Special Bonus: This weekend, Howard Zinn and Mike Konopacki will be appearing at Cooper Union to talk about the book.

Parsons and Jazz students collaborate on “Visual Music Works”

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“Dreamers Night” 
From The Team Of:
Christine Young, Myeong Jae Lee And Martin Isenberg

Animation students from Parsons The New School for Design and composers from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music will take the stage on Sunday, May 4, to present “visual music works,” which bring music and animation together in new and compelling ways. The event marks the culmination of the university’s first studio course in jazz and animation, in which students from the two schools worked together at a high level of collaboration to create original work.

The class, called Jazz and Animation, is taught by Parsons faculty member Ben Katchor, an award-winning and widely published illustrator, and Parsons and Jazz faculty member Ernesto Klar, a media and sound artist whose work was recently featured at the PULSE Contemporary Art Fair in New York. Among the works to be presented are an animated ecosystem that changes and grows in response to a musical score; a piece that brings to life children’s dreams, with the music and animation depicting the movement from consciousness to unconsciousness; and a performance in which the musicians are transformed into on-screen avatars who act out virtual stories through the music played onstage.

“From Wassily Kandinsky to Oskar Fischinger, artists have long been exploring the relationship between image and sound,” said Klar. “Today’s technology brings the work of visual artists and musicians to a whole new level, and over the past several months our students have experimented with a variety of analog and digital technologies to create innovative audiovisual works.”

The course harks back to founding decades of The New School, when it was a major center for modernist visual and performing arts. Artists such as Martha Graham and John Cage resided at the school and worked in egalitarian, collaborative ways, challenging traditional divisions between the arts. Jazz and Animation reflects the direction of the university today as it strives to weave together arts disciplines.

The performance will take place at 4:00 p.m. in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor. It is free and open to the public.

Alumni Bulletin: News from Illustration Grads

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Larry Roibal (’82) recently had his piece “Sunday Morning” accepted for the Communication Arts Illustration Competition. Larry’s unique style was also highlighted by the fine folks over at Drawn a couple of weeks ago.  See more of Larry’s work at his website. Congrats!

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Alum Chris Roth has been creating like crazy, including tons of animations for CBS (like this!), a Spiderman stained-glass window in honor of legendary artist Stan Lee, and this great spot for Channel Frederator (the first piece is his!):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNEGAJfHiU&hl=en]

See more of Chris’s work at his website. Keep up the great work, Chris!

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Alum Angie Mason recently had her work included in the Fusion 5 Festival, which is an amazing new art festival put together by Strychnin Gallery Owner Yasha Young and Hotel 3.14’s creative director Dani Morla.

The artists included in this event were:

Bijou (France), Diva (Spain), David Hochbaum (USA),
Angie Mason (USA),Till Krautkraemer (USA),
Manuel Cortez & Philipp Baben (Germany), Brian Horton (USA),
Chichi Menendez (Australia), Natalie Shau (Lithuania),
Chris von Steiner (France), Mark Verhaagen (Netherlands)
David Stoupakis (USA), Daniel van Nes (Netherlands),
BORIS + NATASCHA (Germany & Australia), Mkan (France),
Virginie Ropars (France), Ansgar Noeth (Germany),
Matthew Bone (USA), Mimi S. (Germany),
Kristen Ferrell (USA), Oksana Badrak (GUS),
Mijn Schatje (France)

Angie also posted images up also at her flickr site and had this to say about her experience:

It was a great event where each artist was given a room/suite that matched their art (no two rooms are a like at this very unique hotel) and the artists had to fill the space with their work making the room their own and then have it viewed during the opening party exhibits and public openings. There was wonderful music and art and press and an ever flowing amount of absolute vodka since they were one of the main sponsors.

Thanks for sharing the news, Angie!

Liz Lomax gives lecture at Society of Illustrators

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We just got this email from Illustration Alum Liz Lomax:

I wanted to let you know about a lecture I am giving at the Society of Illustrators at the end of this month. I’ll be talking about how I got started as a 3D Illustrator ten years ago and how I’ve turned some wire, tinfoil and Sculpey into a career. I’d love to see you there if you can make it.

Liz Lomax, a three dimensional illustrator in New York, is widely recognized as one of the leading figures in her field. She illustrates using a unique process she developed herself over ten years as a professional. Her work has won awards and appeared in many annuals and books on illustration. Her clients include some of the best names in advertising and magazines.

April 30 at 6:30 pm
“An Evening With Liz Lomax”
$10 ($6 for students)

The Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10065

Quick Hit: The Illustrated Letter show at NY Times

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The Illustrated Letter:
Four Decades of Letters to the Editor Spots

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Thursday, April 24, 2008
7:00-9:00 PM

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The New York Times
620 8th Avenue, 7th Floor

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RSVP Required to
galleryseven@nytimes.com

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“Lots of Things Like This” at apexart (curated by Dave Eggers)

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A great exhibition–Lots of Things Like This–organized by Dave Eggers and currently on view at apexart through May 10th, features a huge range of exceptional artists. Here’s an excerpt from an Eggers-penned essay discussing the show’s concept:

This show, titled Lots of Things Like This, came about when apexart asked for an idea for a show. The first thought that occurred to us was an exhibit that would highlight work that included these three elements:

1. An image
2. Some words (usually referring to the image)
3. A sense of humor

The show never got much more complicated than that. We started with the artists we knew we had to include: Raymond Pettibon, Tucker Nichols, Maira Kalman and David Shrigley. All four of them had found a place in the fine art world, even though in many cases their work was both narrative and funny, a combination that’s historically been rare in galleries and museums. For the most part, artists who use text in their work don’t write punchlines – the text is usually abstract or oblique, open to interpretation. But the rise of comics-based art, and of Pettibon in particular, had opened the doors to new hybrids of words and images, thank god.

In any case, being loathe to draw conclusions about the artists’ motivations or methods, because, again, so many of these people are dead, we’re instead going to list some questions that occurred to us and might occur to you and might help the show blow your mind completely:

Why is it that so many of these artists aren’t so great at spelling? And why is it that when they screw up one of their words, instead of starting over, they just cross the word out and write it again? Many people would choose to start over.

Why is it important to many of the artists that the drawings appear casual, even rushed? Is the loose draftsmanship part of its appeal, in that it seems more intimate and disarming? Is absurdity more appealing when it comes across as humble?

What is the line between a doodle, a cartoon, a gag, a work of fine art, and will there ever be a time when someone doesn’t insist on writing a similar kind of silly and rhetorical sentence in an art catalog?

Read the whole essay here and make sure to catch this unique show before it comes down.

Lots of Things Like This
organized by Dave Eggers
April 2 – May 10, 2008
291 Church Street
(between Walker and White)
New York, NY 10013 USA

Tote Bag Exhibition in Beacon

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Illustration Adjunct Dan Weise runs Open Space gallery in Beacon, NY (just a short trip north of the city) and he has an exciting new show up that features another Parsons faculty–Jordin Isip.  Here’s the official description:

The average family brings home 1,000 plastic bags every year. It is time for us to switch from a disposable society to one which reduces, reuses and recycles. This show will help spread the message that we care about our planet and do not want to just consume until there is nothing left. We are certain that we will all make a difference. The proceeds from the sales of the show will go to the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a New York based organization committed to enviromental advocacy and education.

Tons of fantastic artists are involved in this show and it benefits a good cause so hop on the Metro North line and go visit!

TOTE / BAG
April 12th – May 3rd
Open Space Beacon
510 Main Street
Beacon NY 12508

R. Sikoryak in 3D Comic Carousel at Comic Con!

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NICK MAG PRESENTS 3-D COMIC CAROUSEL

Sunday, April 20
3 PM – 4 PM

At the New York Comic Con
Jacob K. Javits Center (655 West 34th Street)
Location:  Kids Room 1E09

A series of cartoon slide shows of comics from Nickelodeon Magazine,  
presented by an array of artists and other characters.

Plenty of gags, goofiness, audience participation and 3-D action!  
Definitely for kids and alternative-comics-loving adults.

Free 3-D glasses and magazines!

Speaker(s):
Chris Duffy – Magazine Editor – Nickelodeon
Dave Roman – Magazine Editor – Nickelodeon
R. Sikoryak (Drawn and Quarterly, Parsons Illustration Alum & Adjunct Faculty)
Sam Henderson (Magic Whistle)
Kim Deitch (Alias the Cat)
Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed To Thrizzle)

Assisted by Karen Sneider (Pony Up!)
Adapted for 3-D projection by Gerald Marks

For more info and tickets:
www.nycomiccon.com

Children 12 and under are admitted for free on Kids Day!

Also make sure to check out the Facebook event page for full details (add Parsons Illustration as a friend while you’re there!), as well as R. Sikoryak’s website for more of his great artwork.

 

[image by R. Sikoryak]

Quick Hit: Animations/Fictions show in Bucharest

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Artists: Boris Achour, Pierre Bismuth, Wim Delvoye, Gerard Deschamps, Erro, Pierre Huyghe, Bernard Joisten, Pierre Joseph, William Kentridge, Koo Jeong-A, Suzanne Lafont, Bertrand Lavier, François Letaillieur, Mac Adams, David Mach, Petra Mrzyk & Jean François Moriceau, Raymond Pettibon, Alain Sechas, Jim Shaw, Sandy Skoglund, Fabien Verschaere, Wang Du

On display on MNAC Animations / Fictions presents a curatorial research within the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain in Paris spotlighting different ways in which comic strips and cartoons have been used by international contemporary artists. Cartoons and comic strips have appeared in citational form initially in the Pop Art before becoming, at a later stage (from the 1990s onwards) and in a context removed from animation, an explicit source of inspiration.

The featured artists express highly sophisticated concepts in an easily understandable language. Borrowing childhood iconography or creating images referring ironically to Disney, Hannah&Barbera or mangas, beyond their connotations of an all-pervasive subculture, mass culture and media in today’s globalized world, the chosen works act as powerful vectors for sometimes dramatic events. They reveal an adult awareness of the gravity of the present day through a child’s wide-eyed gaze. Very different in their form and message, they also highlight how contemporary figuration draws on its close ties with the various genres of the popular culture, switching towards a different area.

Emphasizing the feedback reality-fiction, focusing on social, political and psychological issues, the works presented become the re-looked reflection of an aggressive reality difficult to endure.

A new Cahiers du Fonds National d’Art Contemporain dedicated to the exhibition will be published.

See more images from the show here!