Guillermo Riveros in Pensive States show!

Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, ,

The Broadway Gallery is please to announce the upcoming group show Pensive States. The exhibition, featuring the works of Sefkat Islegen, Giovanni Carlo Rocca, Daniel McKinley, Helen Joynson and Guillermo Riveros (current Illustration student!) will be held from August 1st-15th, with an opening reception on Saturday, August 2nd.

Curated by Christina Zhang, Pensive States explores a deeply contemplative corner of the visual sphere. The artists in Pensive States seek to eliminate the boundaries of memory, history and geography in order to make a state of true contemplation possible. The works span a dynamic assortment of stylistic and thematic conclusions that are linked by their reflective nature. Each artist utilizes Pensive States as a forum to display the conclusion of a journey that begins with their imagination and ends with a poetic act of expression.

Pure art springs from a meditative state of mind. As a process, it brings wakefulness and awareness to the creative and viewing processes through the integration of contemplation and meditation. Pensive States brings together artists whose work is intent on achieving a better understanding of spiritual and aesthetic enrichment by opening innovative and thought provoking new dialogues up to the viewer.

Executed through a dynamic visual language, the exhibition is structured upon the idea of pictorial clarity as the elimination of all obstacles between the artist and the idea, and between the idea and the observer. By paying close attention to the transitional works of each artist, Zhang constructs an exhibition of effortless compositions, luminous color and passionate ideas—all of which are found through each artists own experimentations with everything from Realism and Surrealism, to Portraiture and Landscape.

Guillermo Riveros has this to say about his ongoing series, called “Golden Age”:

In my work I explore, through self-portraits, the ideas and discourses surrounding the construction of sexual identities and their representations. In this new series, entitled “Golden Age,” I introduce new devices to my previous technique; the mask to accomplish the anonymity of my subjects, but the clear signal of performativity. The mask allows my characters to inhabit new bodies that serve as an extension of my conceptualized self. These characters inhabit a utopian world of faceless fantastical hybrid sexual identities. Using 60’s horror B-movies as reference for compositions, I also intend to add an additional layer of dramatics to underline the notion of performativity(visible in both the photos and the identities they reference). The use of exteriors intends to speak about a hybrid cross between “the real”/the fantasy, also displayed in the color treatment of the images.

Opening
Saturday, August 2, 2008
6:00pm – 8:00pm
The Broadway Gallery
473 Broadway, 7th floor
New York, NY

[image by Guillermo Riveros]

Alumni Update: Louisa Bertman (’92)

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, Interviews, News, , , , , ,

From the Illustration Inbox, we’ve got some news about Louisa Bertman (’92):

Louisa Bertman is honored to be 1 of 12 artists chosen to illustrate a page for the upcoming 2009 NPR Calendar. While painting Click and Clack, 2 large portraits were born as an offshoot of the actual NPR Illustration.  Check out the portraits as well as her interview with those crazy Car Talk Guys!  They’ve listed her this week under “Links We LIke” from their homepage.

Thanks for passing along the good word, Louisa, and congratulations!

The Little Matador by Julian Hector

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, Publications, ,

Illustration Alum Julian Hector (’06) just had his first children’s book released and we here in the department couldn’t be happier for him.  Here’s a synopsis:

The Little Matador comes from a long line of bullfighter – but he would rather draw a bull than fight one!  In this little book about dreaming big, first time author-illustrator Julian Hector teaches all about the importance of being true to your heart, even in the face of great family expectations – and a charging bull!

Grab your copy here.  Congratulations, Julian!

Typography! Animation! Zines?

Class Projects, From the Vault, Illustration Faculty, , , , , , ,

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Check out this great illustration by Illustration student Loa Hjálmtýsdóttir.  She created it for Daniel Weise’s Typography class this past Spring.  Go here to check out some of the other animations (scroll down!).  Some students created zines to illustrate their handmade typefaces.  We’d love to post some images, so if you’ve created one–send it along!

Repost and Reminder: Parsons Illustration at Comic-Con

Events, Illustration Alumni, 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.

Alumni Update: Alex Rheault

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, News, , ,

Straight from the Illustration Inbox, we’ve got an update about Alex Rheault (Illustration ’85):

Alex Rheault has recently been appointed Chair of Illustration at Maine College of Art in Portland, where she resides since 2001.  Alex left the Big Apple in 1997, and lived in Sanibel, Florida for two years where she taught cartooning and became the cartoonist in 2000 for the local paper of record, The Island Reporter until 2004.

Alex left hurricane season behind for cooler climes to focus on art, writing, and studies. She completed the Salt for Documentary Studies program as a photography student in 2002, documenting the local fireboat and a wooden boat builder, and attended Vermont College right after, receiving her MFA in 2004.

She teaches drawing, two dimensional design, cartooning, fashion illustration, and illustration related courses in Continuing Studies and the BFA program at MECA, and mentors students privately in writing and visual arts. She exhibits work at Filament gallery in Portland and Patricia Ladd Cargea Gallery in New Hampshire. Her work looks at strategies of authority, language, and hierarchies of preference through everyday objects, images, and text. Her obsession since grad school has been the thinker, Georges
Bataille, whose work has led her to many others.

Alex’s most recent projects include drawing room (no “the”), an evolving identity engaging artists and the public in dialogue and collaborative works, curating exhibits with emerging artists, and community engagement.  Projects such as Chewed Toys Project invite dogs and people to co-create.

Alex gave a paper at SCAD’s Art History Symposium in April where Fred Wilson was the keynote speaker. She spoke about drawing room projects. Here is a direct link to the presentation and directions for how to find it:

  • direct link
  • go to the bottom, and click on the icon with a page and arrow.
  • then click on “find” icon, and scroll down the green to “drawing room”
  • click to begin show!

Alex is actively writing and working towards several upcoming exhibits in 2009.

Visit Alex’s website and also check out Drawing Room, Chewed Toys, and Head on a Stick for info about her work and projects.

Thanks for the update, Alex!

After the Fact: Montclair Art Museum Project

Exhibitions, From the Vault, Illustration Dept. Events, , , , , ,

Students and Organizers of the exhibition

Montclair Art Museum recently held a exhibit called “The Elements of Fear” featuring work from the Sophomore Materials and Methods classes of the Parsons Illustration Department.

Gallery view

Jason Towns of the Montclair Art Museum’s “Museums and Opportunity Project,” a clubhouse program empowering people with brain injuries, has partnered with Parsons School of Design Illustration Department. on a unique classroom assignment.  The final results are currently on display at the Montclair Art Museum.

The project was about fear and how it is a factor in many emotions that are manifested in universal words. The assignment for this exhibition was to create illustrations that show how familiar words have an underlining element of fear.

The Parsons instructors were Ruth Marten, Chang Park, and Bob Sikoryak.

Chantal Bennett and Jason Towns

Congratulations to all the students involved in this exhibition and the instructors who helped them.  Also, our thanks to curator Jason Towns and Gary Schneider, Director of Education at the Museum, for inviting our students to participate.

Another gallery view

[Thanks to Bob and Cynthia for the images!]

Animation Block Party!

Events, Illustration Industry, , , ,

Some call it punk rock, some call it grass roots, but labels aside – NYC based Animation Block Party is dedicated to exhibiting the world’s best independent, professional and student animation.

Since the premiere of the first official Animation Block Party film festival on September 9th 2004, there have been over 4000 animation submissions from all ends of the earth.

Animation Block Party will run from July 25-27, 2008 in Brooklyn. Over 100 films from a record 800 plus entries will be screened at the fifth annual ABP.

Go here for a complete listing of all screenings and locations!

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“Beautiful Losers” screening at Open Space Gallery

Events, General Info, Illustration Industry, , , , , ,

Straight from the Illustration Inbox:

Open Space Gallery in Beacon, NY has the honor of hosting one of the far and few between screenings of the inspirational film “Beautiful Losers.” This film basically features all of our favorite artists such as Barry Mcgee, Margaret Kilgallen, ESPO, Geoff McFetridge, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmonie Korine, and many others and focuses on a culture and period of time we find very close to our heart. This film is a must see and once you see it you will leave inspired to make art.

Below are the details for the screening.

Sunday July 20th
6pm to 9pm
The Howland Cultural Center
477 Main Street
Beacon NY

Seating at the Howland is very limited ( about 80 people) so we have set up a place where you can pre purchase tickets to assure that you get a chance to see this amazing film.

Click here to pre purchase tickets

Hope to see everyone at the Howland!

Thanks to Adjunct Faculty Dan Weise for passing along this info!  Also, as a bonus, here’s a trailer for the movie:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyRAHKTy6hI]