Category Archives: Illustration Faculty

Blab!: A Retrospective

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“BLAB!: A Retrospective” opened August 1, 2008 at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art on the campus of Kansas State University. The exhibition will be on view through November 2, 2008. It is the first American museum exhibition devoted to the work of BLAB!, Monte Beauchamp’s periodic anthology of sequential and comic art, illustration, painting, and printmaking. The exhibition, which focuses on BLAB! #8-18 (1995-2007), features the work of forty-six artists and includes 150 works of art from thirty-nine collections.

This exhibition features an eclectic gathering of stylistically varied work by alternative comics artists, illustrators, graphic designers, printmakers, and painters from BLAB!, the annual anthology of visual art produced by Chicago-based graphic designer and art director Monte Beauchamp.

BLAB! began in 1986 as a self-published fanzine (fan-produced magazine) devoted to MAD magazine and other EC Comics publications. Today it is a significant outlet for a wide variety of contemporary artists. BLAB!‘s influence has cut a broad swath across contemporary visual culture. It has helped launch many artists’ careers. It has introduced American audiences to important contemporary European graphic and comics artists. And, it has contributed meaningfully to the blurring of boundaries between alternative graphics and mainstream illustration. All of the work in this exhibition has been featured in BLAB!.

Artists in exhibition:

Michael Bartalos, Gary Baseman, Richard Beards, Tim Biskup, Stéphane Blanquet, Calef Brown, Greg Clarke, The Clayton Brothers, Sue Coe, Don Colley, Brian Cronin, Nicolas Debon, Douglas Fraser, Drew Friedman, Geoffrey Grahn, Steven Guarnaccia (Illustration Department Chair), Ryan Heshka, Peter Hoey, Tom Huck, Teresa James, Jeffrey Kamberos, Nora Krug (Illustration Department Faculty), Peter Kuper, Mark Landman, Laura Levine, MATS!?, Walter Minus, Christian Northeast, John Pound, Archer Prewitt, CJ Pyle, Helge Reumann, Xavier Robel, Spain, Jonathon Rosen, Marc Rosenthal, Sergio Ruzzier (Illustration Department Faculty), David Sandlin, Bob Staake, Fred Stonehouse, Mark Todd, Chris Ware, and Esther Pearl Watson.

The accompanying 128-page, full-color catalogue was designed by Monte Beauchamp and contains contributions by David A. Beronä, Mark Frauenfelder, Matt Dukes Jordan, and Bill North.

BLAB! cover

Related Events

Sept. 18 – Gallery talk by Bill North, senior curator, Beach Museum of Art, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 25 – Lecture, “From Highbrow Comics to Lowbrow Art: The Shifting Contexts of the Comics Art Object” by Bart Beaty, noted comics scholar and associate professor of communications studies, Faculty of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 23 – Artist talks by Steven Guarnaccia and Nora Krug, associate professors, illustration department, Parsons: The New School for Design, 5:30 p.m.

You can see installation views on Flickr and grab your own Blab! here.

Blab!: A Retrospective
August 1st-November 2nd, 2008
Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art
Kansas State University
701 Beach Lane (14th & Anderson Ave.)
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-7718

Kim Deitch Retrospective at MoCCA

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MoCCA will be hosting a fantastic artistic survey of legendary comic artist Kim Deitch.  Even better, the exhibition is curated by Parsons Illustration faculty Bill Kartalopoulos.  Here’s the official press release:

Kim Deitch: A Retrospective will display original comics pages and other work covering the artist’s entire career to date, beginning with full-page comic strips drawn for the East Village Other in the sixties up to recent graphic novels including The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Alias the Cat, Shadowland, and Deitch’s Pictorama. The exhibit will also feature rarely seen work including elaborate preparatory drawings, hand-colored originals, animation cel set-ups and lithographs.

Kim Deitch was born in Los Angeles in 1944, the eldest son of Oscar-wining animator Gene Deitch (Tom Terrific, Munro). Deitch studied at the Pratt Institute, traveled with the Norwegian Merchant Marines and worked at a mental institution before joining the burgeoning underground press in 1967. As an early contributor to the East Village Other and the editor of Gothic Blimp Works, Kim Deitch was a charter member of the underground comix scene that exploded with the 1968 publication of Robert Crumb’s Zap #1. Forty years later, he stands alongside Crumb, Bill Griffith, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, and Art Spiegelman as one the most notable and prolific artists to emerge from that milieu. In addition to his comic books and graphic novels, Deitch’s work has appeared in venues including RAW, Weirdo, Arcade, Details, the L.A. Weekly, McSweeney’s, Nickelodeon Magazine, and The New Yorker.

“Kim Deitch’s career spans the entire post-war history of avant-garde comics, from the underground to the literary mainstream,” said exhibit curator Bill Kartalopoulos. “Deitch brilliantly weaves vast intergenerational narratives that enfold a deep history of American popular entertainment. Distinctions between fiction and reality blur in his meta-fictional world just as real madness bleeds into the visions and schemes of the artists, entertainers, and hustlers who populate his stories. The result is a rich narrative tapestry as compelling and as breathtaking as Deitch’s densely layered, tightly woven, and intricately detailed black and white comics pages.”

Deitch’s body of work stretches outward from comics to embrace a spectrum of visual-narrative modes, including extra-textual single images and illustrated prose modeled after Victorian illustrated fiction. His most recent book is Deitch’s Pictorama, a collection of illustrated fiction produced in collaboration with brothers Seth and Simon Deitch. The exhibit includes several examples of Deitch’s career-long experimentation with text/image modes.

MoCCA will publish an original poster and 1″ button featuring the “Sunshine Girl” character who stars both in Deitch’s earliest and most recent work. The Museum will also host a series of talks and events related to the exhibit.

• Exhibition dates: September 9 – December 5, 2008
• Opening Reception: September 12, 2008, 6 – 9 pm (free & open to the public).

MoCCA
594 Broadway, Suite 401, between Houston and Prince
New York, NY 10012

1st Sundays featuring R. Sikoryak

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1st SUNDAYS COMEDY FILM FESTIVAL
Special Howl Festival Show
featuring Arts of the East Village and the Lower East Side

“Videos by Dale Goodson”
written and directed by Dale Goodson
East Village poet, comedian and filmmaker Dale Goodson
presents works from days gone by, as well as a world premiere.

“Masterpiece Comics”
written & directed by R. Sikoryak (Parsons Illustration Alum & Faculty member!)
Literary masterpieces and comics as you’ve never seen them before.
(In glorious Powerpoint!)

“Masters of the Universe”
written and directed by Kevin Maher
Kevin Maher bares a bit of his soul.  And plays the bongos.

“Why, Grandma?”
written and directed by Chandler Simms
Part of the “Wanna Be a Star” contest, starring audience member Polina Roytman!

Sunday, September 7th, 6:00pm
at the BOWERY POETRY CLUB
308 Bowery (between Houston and Bleecker)
$10 ($7.00 for students)

Updated: The Panorama Project 3 at Jonathan Levine

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The Panorama Project 3: 134 artists, one continuous piece
curated by Jordin Isip (Parsons Illustration Faculty)
and Rodger Stevens (Parsons Illustration Faculty and Alum)
September 6th—October 4th, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 6th, 7pm—9pm
Jonathan Levine Gallery, NYC

The Panorama Project 3 is a group exhibition featuring commissioned works by over one hundred artists, which will be combined to create a single collective artwork and a site-specific installation. This show will be the latest in a series of large-scale group exhibitions curated by New York based artists Jordin Isip and Rodger Stevens. Since 2001, they have been bringing together an ever-expanding network of painters, sculptors, illustrators, designers, photographers, and video makers to create conceptually and visually unconventional group projects. Some of the original participants included: Doze Green, Chris Johanson, Misaki Kawai, Barry McGee, Georgie Stout, and Eric White.This exhibition is a variation on one of their earliest efforts.  It creates a single, continuous work, comprised of one hundred and thirty-four individual pieces.

The participating artists each received a 7” x  5” wooden panel, on which to create their portion of the installation, with one requirement:each work had to include some manner of horizontal line or division, set at 1-3/4” from the bottom of the board. This common visual device allows each of the separate pieces, when installed together side by side, to cohere into one long contiguous image**a panorama, encircling the entire gallery space. With no knowledge of what would appear on either side of their panel, each artist had the freedom to interpret the line in their own unique way. The installation creates a grand and unpredictable visual synthesis, in a monumental iteration of the exquisite corpse concept. Bringing together artists from so many disparate fields, unlikely to ever appear in the same exhibition space at the same time, this show creates an opportunity for lively experimentation and unexpected results, inspiring innovation while working within a set of prescribed limitations.

The show features a whole plethora of Parsons faculty and alums including:

Yong Choe
Carl Dunn
Ingo Fast
Johanna Goodman
Chesiel John
Andy Kehoe
Hiro Kurata
Liz Lee
Chang Park (faculty)
Jeff Quinn (faculty)
Jessica Ward
Noel Claro
William Buzzell
AJ Fosik
Eddie del Rosario (faculty)
James Gallagher (faculty)
Cat Lauigan
Philip Fivel Nessen
Jordin Isip (faculty)
Rodger Stevens (faculty)

ABOUT THE CURATORS

Jordin Isip is from Queens, NY and has lived in Brooklyn since graduating with a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. He makes artwork for both publication and gallery walls. His work has appeared in numerous publications including: The Atlantic Monthly, Juxtapoz, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Time. He has curated over a dozen group exhibitions including Mystery Meat at Future Prospects (Phillipines), Scab on My Brain at Space 1026 (Philadelphia), and A Piece Apart at Aidan Savoy (NYC).

Rodger Stevens was born in Brooklyn NY. He studied at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design, where he currently teaches. His sculptures, installations, and drawings have been exhibited in galleries and museums in New York and abroad and he has been commissioned by numerous institutions including: The Whitney Museum of Art, Tiffany&Co, The Rockwell Group, W Hotel, Sotheby’s, and MTV. His work has been featured in publications such as Art&Antiques, Harper’sBazaar, Elle Decor, and The New York Times.

The Panorama Project 3
September 6th—October 4th, 2008
Jonathan Levine Gallery
529 W. 20th Street, 9E
New York, NY 10011

Display Opportunities in the Illustration Department

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Illustration Students and Faculty Members,

You might notice how fantastic our display cases are looking these days.  That’s thanks in part to Illustration Faculty member Noel Claro, who has taken on the huge task of scheduling exhibitions and shows in the 8th floor lobby.  On display now is:

–an entire case devoted to Frankensteinia, in conjunction with the Illustration Department Summer Reading Project.  Illustration Faculty and Alum Les Kanturek curated this case with fabulous paraphenalia and publications from his own collection.  Check out his Concepts blog for entries about other Frankenstein-related information.

–a case devoted to work by our two newest faculty members: James Gallagher and Isabelle Dervaux.  James will be teaching Digital Presentation and Isabelle will be teaching Senior Thesis.

–two cases devoted to international publications picked up by our full-time faculty members Nora Krug and Ben Katchor, as well as some collected by Steven Guarnaccia, our chair.

–a case full of fascinating current works by current students Zach Zezima and Ana Mouyis.

So of course, you’re wondering: I’m an Illustration faculty member/student!  How do I get my work in those cases?  Look no further.  Instructions for the whole process are after the jump!

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Student Street Art in La Romana!

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Adjunct Faculty Dan Weise recently taught a Street Art workshop in the Dominican Republic at Parsons’ affiliate Altos de Chavon.  He kept a blog detailing his experiences with the students as they explored graffiti, animation, and murals.  It’s chock full of amazing photos of the art created during the workshop, as well as links to student blogs.

Good work to Dan and all the amazing artists/students involved!

Tara McPherson Coloring Book!

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Dark Horse Deluxe joins with Tara McPherson to design the Somewhere Under the Rainbow Coloring Kit! This fantastic “kit” comes in an easy-carry heavy-gauge clear vinyl bag with zipper enclosure, and includes: 96-page coloring book featuring 48 pieces of outstanding black and white art by Tara McPherson. This book has concealed spiral binding and stiff covers and includes unique box of 24 crayons in modern colors. But that’s not all! Four color-them-yourself postcards, and a deluxe sticker sheet are included in the spiral bound book.

This is available at cool stores everywhere on August 27, 2008, but you can pre-order your kit here.

Congratulations, Trey!

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Wonderful news from Parsons Illustration faculty and alum Trey Hoyumpa:

I went into labor Monday and had a baby girl Tuesday afternoon at 12:34pm. Her name is Madison Grace Hoyumpa and she weighed in at 7lb 4 oz (Parker was 7lb 6oz). She looks a lot like Parker when he was born except she has a dimple on her right check which, of course, is super cute. We were released from the hospital yesterday – both Madison and I are doing great. We are all totally sleep deprived, but are enjoying the time together. It’s a kick seeing Parker with Madison. He’s going to be an awesome big brother.

Congratulations, Trey!  She’s gorgeous.

Follow-up: Electric Windows Beacon

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From the Illustration Inbox: a follow-up about the Electric Windows project sponsored by OPENSPACE gallery (headed by Adjunct Faculty Dan Weise):

WOW! What an amazing project!

With the exception of a little rain here and there the Electric Windows weekend was a huge success! For those of you that missed it or did’nt know about the project check out the wrap-up below:

On the weekend of May 17th, we organized and awesome outdoor painting project with our friends at Beacon Art Supply and Burlock called Electric Windows. It was an amazing 3 day event that brought together 18 artist to create murals for the windows of a 18th Century factory building in Beacon NY. The project was a HUGE success and the pieces will be up on the building for the next year. So if you are in Beacon, definitely come by and check out the building.

You can see pictures from the event here!

Congrats to Dan, OPENSPACE, and all the incredible artists involved in this cool project!  Bonus: check out this great video that Cool Hunting put together about the project:

[brightcove vid=1648122220&exp=1640183789&w=300&h=260]

Last Days: “Crocodile Tears” at Giant Robot NY

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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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