Category Archives: Illustration Alumni

Parsons Illustration at Comic-con in San Diego!

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!

Call for Entries: Wallpaper design for Sheila Johnson Design Center

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!

Gareth Hinds launch party for “The Merchant of Venice”

Straight from the Illustration Inbox, we got this announcement from Alum Gareth Hinds:

Hi, everyone. Most of you aren’t local to Boston, but I wanted to let you know that my new graphic novel The Merchant of Venice came out June 10th. I’m having a launch party on June 21st — more details below. Let me know if you might be around, otherwise keep your eye out for the book in your local bookstore or on www.garethhinds.com 🙂

Saturday June 21st, 6:30-9:00 pm (I’ll do some sort of reading/demo/speech around 7:00-7:30) Porter Square Books (in the Porter Square shopping plaza next to Star Market – map) Open to the public; please bring friends!

There will be snacks, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. There may be a late-dinner expedition afterward. There should be plenty of books on hand, which the friendly staff of the store will sell you, and I will happily sign and personalize.

This particular book was drawn largely from life, and most of the “cast” (i.e., my friends who posed for the characters) will be there, which should be a lot of fun.

RSVPs are not necessary, but would be much appreciated.

One other thing, as long as I’m self-promoting. I have an official blog now, so if you’d like to keep up with my doings, check http://www.garethhinds.com/blog/ (or if you’re on Livejournal, the username “garethhinds” will get you a feed of the same content).

Thanks!
Gareth

If you’re in the Boston area, make sure you stop by and support Gareth on his fantastic new work!

Alumni Email Bag: Work by Andrea Geller

Straight from the Illustration Inbox, we have this update from Andrea Geller:

I am a Parsons graduate, Illustration department (1982) and would like to update you on what I’ve been working on…

1. An oil painting titled “Floating” [above] was selected for inclusion in the U.S. Department of State “Art in Embassies” program, Athens, Greece.

2. Completed interior book illustrations for “What to Say to a Porcupine” Amacom Books, NYC, July, 2008. [editor’s note: pre-order the book here!]

Congratulations, Andrea!

Alumni: As always, keep us updated!

MoCCA Comic Art Festival this weekend!

The program for this year’s MoCCA Art Festival features a rich mix of animators, cartoonists, graphic artists, and writers. Our special guests include Jessica Abel, Rebecca Donner, David Hajdu, David Heatley, Chip Kidd, Alex Robinson, Frank Santoro, and Brian Wood. Saturday’s program opens with author Blake Bell talking about his new Steve Ditko biography, and closes with Dan Nadel in conversation with Chris Forgues (“CF”), whose comics, according to one critic, “exude the ease of someone just now putting all the pieces together to make for consistent great work.” Sunday’s program opens with an illustrated history of radical cartooning, by social movement cartoonist Nick Thorkelson, and closes with a screening of new animated shorts from Scandinavia.

Parsons Illustration associates will be out in force–Tara McPherson, Neil Swaab, Bob Sikoryak, Jillian Tamaki, Brian Wood, and Peter de Seve–so make sure you stop by and see their work!

The MoCCA Art Festival, now in its seventh year, is an annual fundraiser for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA). Each year the MoCCA Art Festival Award is presented to a creative figure whose work has elevated the cartoon arts. The Award was presented to Jules Feiffer in 2002, and in subsequent years to Art Spiegelman (2003), Roz Chast (2004), Neal Adams (2005), Gahan Wilson (2006), and Alison Bechdel (2007).

This year’s Award recipient, Bill Plympton, is an internationally renowned cartoonist, illustrator, and animator. His cartoons have appeared in major newspapers and magazines, from the Village Voice and the New York Times, to Vogue, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. He is the author and/or illustrator of numerous books and graphic novels, including Hair High, Mutant Aliens, Tube Strips, and The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. He is probably best known for his short and full-length animated films, which include The Tune, I Married a Strange Person, Guard Dog, and Idiots and Angels, which premiered earlier this year. Bill Plympton will be introduced by the animator Signe Baumane.

The 2008 program is being held in tandem with an event at NYU that will take place the day before the Festival officially opens, on Friday, June 6. Sponsored by the New York Institute for the Humanities and MoCCA, “Post-Bang: Comics Ten Minutes After the Big Bang!” features roundtables and presentations on “key trends and debates facing comics in this new, ‘post-bang’ environment.” For more information about this, click here

MoCCA Comic Art Festival
Saturday, June 7th & Sunday, June 8th, 2008
Hours: 11:00am – 6:00pm
Admission is $10 each day / $15 weekend pass (weekend pass only $10 for MoCCA members)
The Puck Building, 293 Lafayette, New York, NY

Programming Schedule
Exhibitor List (Parsons Illustration will be sharing a table with Cat Lauigan at B45!)
Map of Exhibitors
Featured Artist Sketch Table Schedule (featuring Illustration Alum & Faculty Bob Sikoryak on Sunday!)

[MoCCA Art Festival poster art by Parsons Illustration Faculty Tara McPherson and DKC]

Aftermath: Parsons Illustration Alumni Event at the Society of Illustrators

Back in March, New School Alumni Relations held a fantastic shindig up at the Society of Illustrators. The event was well-attended and a total blast! Here are a few snapshots:

Associate Professor Nora Krug, Dept. Chair Steven Guarnaccia, and Adjunct Faculty Eddie del Rosario

Soon-to-be Alumnae Lindsey Balbierz and Jasmine Wigandt

Alumni Peter de Seve addresses the crowd.

Graduating Illustration Senior Shanna Mahan and Adjunct Faculty & Alum Bob Sikorayk are in view!

See the rest of the photo set here and visit the New School Alumni Relations site to learn more about upcoming alumni events. Also, make sure to keep the department updated on your accomplishments so we can let everyone know!

New shirt by George Bates Studio

Illustration Alum and Faculty member George Bates recently passed along this exciting news:

The George Bates Studio has created an Eco minded t-shirt for the UK clothing company HOWIES entitled “Consumption Totem”.

The shirt comes in 5 colors on a sort of tan and also a “spine chilling” white on black…wow,dig.

Guaranteed you’ll be the coolest Eco-friendly hipster at the barbecue w/ one of these pups on this summer!!!!

Check it here!

Nice work, George!

Tres Gallery at South of the Navy Yard Artists Walk

Santa Monica 1

SONYA presents the 9th Annual SONYA Studio Stroll in the vibrant cultural hub of downtown Brooklyn just south of the Navy Yard—where art is made.

The Stroll is a free self-guided walking tour of studios and galleries showcasing an incredible variety of artwork created by Brooklyn-based artists. We invite you to begin your Stroll experience by previewing the Stroll artists’ work, downloading a tour map, and planning your adventure on Stroll weekend, May 17 & 18. Bring your friends and family along and make it a celebration of art making and appreciation!

The SONYA Studio Stroll is funded, in part, by public funds from the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts, also by our Artist Members and our Friends of SONYA, as well as local businesses and organizations.

Among many other artists and galleries, Tres Gallery, a studio and gallery space run by artists Margaret Hurst, Eddie Pena and Illustration Alum and Adjunct Faculty Veronica Lawlor, will be participating in the Stroll and showing Recent Works. The gallery focuses on abstract and representational drawing and painting.

SONYA Studio Stroll 2008
Saturday May 17 & Sunday, May 18
12:00 – 6pm, both days
For more information about location and directions, call 718-857-5696.

TRES Gallery
20 Grand Avenue, #204
Brooklyn, NY 11205
info@tresgallery.com

[image by Veronica Lawlor]