Humbug (Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee) at the Strand tomorrow

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An Evening with HUMBUG at the Strand, April 14th!

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS AND THE STRAND PRESENT: AN EVENING OF HUMBUG

In 1957, five artists — Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Arnold Roth, Al Jaffee and Jack Davis – hot on the heels of creating MAD magazine, pooled their money and their talent and entered into the creative, exuberant folly of a lifetime by creating the greatest satirical magazine of their careers. Join HUMBUG co-founders Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee in a book signing and discussion about this historic publication with Fantagraphics Publisher and editor of the collected HUMBUG, Gary Groth. Attendees will also enjoy an exclusive screening of a documentary short film about the late Will Elder.

humbug


An Evening with HUMBUG
Featuring Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee in conversation with Gary Groth
Tuesday, April 14, 7:00PM
The Strand Bookstore
12th St. & Broadway,
New York, NY

Isabel Samaras has first monograph released!

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, News, Publications, , , , , ,

tender hooks

In just a few shorts weeks, on April 29th, Parsons Illustration Alum Isabel Samaras will have her very first monograph, On Tender Hooks, published by Chronicle Books!  Here’s the official description:

On Tender Hooks — Isabel Samaras’s quirky, sexy, pop-surrealist art has had a cult following for years—and now at long last her first monograph, On Tender Hooks, is here. Drawing her influence from classic TV shows and paintings by the Old Masters—for example riffing on Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa by replacing the figures with characters from Gilligan’s Island—Samaras has created a witty, erotic, and surreal body of work. This fresh and dazzling volume includes a three-way interview between Samaras and fellow low-brow artists Shag and The Pizz, as well as delightful and enlightening commentary from gallerist Justin Giarla and art writer Colin Berry, and an erotic short story by Lucy Blue.

Pre-order your copy here and note that you can also get a deluxe version which includes:

Edition limited to 100 and 5 artist’s proofs
Print: Honey Dripper (Goldilocks & the Three Bears), 2008
Signed and numbered by the artist, 8×10 Giclée print

Fancy!  There’s also an accompanying postcard collection if you’re short on cash but still want a little of this beautiful art.

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Our congratulations to Isabel on this huge accomplishment.  Seems like she’s pretty happy with the results, as well.  Over at her blog, you can check out her reaction on getting a copy of the completed book.

Devil’s In The Details Group Art Show Opening at Giant Robot New York

Events, Exhibitions, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, News, , , ,

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Giant Robot is proud to present Devil’s in the Details, a 10-person group art show. Contributors range in artistic styles and backgrounds, from illustration and graphic design, to graffiti and fine art. Representing some of the most prolific and engaging voices in the art world today, each artist has created new original works for this show.

Participants include:

  • Sean Boyles – Applying his loose, yet honed style to drawings, paintings, printmaking, and even photos and videos, Boyles has the uncanny ability to make carefully composed depictions of the street appear effortless.
  • Ako Castuera – Castuera depicts a hyper-colored, gravity-defying world that is somewhat terrifying but also super fun. When she is not making her own art, she is a character artist for the Metacopalypse animated TV series.
  • French – Utilizing a distinct, finely detailed method to his drawings, French’s subjects include the morbid, the classic, the contemporary, and the strange, all executed with care and precision.
  • Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch – One of the hardest working artists in the art scene today, Holyoke-Hirsch has maintained his artistic vision and expanded on his style while showing in galleries around the world.
  • Andrew Holder – The patterns and shapes of Holder’s art are as distinct as the compositions he creates with both. Continually making work that exemplifies the direction of modern art, Holder most recently graced the cover of Arkitip.
  • Jordin Isip – Isip’s mixed media work combines the look of raw sculpture with simple, modernist design, and graces book covers, album covers, and magazine articles. [Parsons Illustration faculty!]
  • Yellena James – In her artwork, James combines complex abstract forms to form larger images that take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi, crafty and fantastic.
  • Jeremyville – Art, product design, animation–Jeremyville seems to do it all, and always with his trademark, innovative style and sophisticated presentation. His work has been shown around the world, and he continues to fill galleries with art that defies definition.
  • David Jien – Still developing as an art student, Jien’s pencil drawings incorporate a dream like world that embraces such elements as graffiti, aliens, and the people around him.
  • Matt Lock – At once, Lock’s colorful, heavy metal-inspired paintings recall the crudest of notebook doodles with the most epic sci-fi landscapes. They are simple, stunning, and thought provoking.

Devil’s in the Details
April 11 – May 6, 2009
Reception: Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Giant Robot Gallery
437 East 9th Street
Between 1st Ave. & Ave. A in the East Village
New York, New York 10009
(212) 674-GRNY (4769)
grny.net

Submit your poster idea for Make Music New York!

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Make Music New York, a unique, free outdoor celebration called “the largest music event ever to grace Gotham” (Metro New York), is now accepting proposals for a visual identity and urban intervention for this yearʼs festival, taking place on Sunday, June 21, 2009.

Over the last two years, Parsons students have designed the festivalʼs logo, websites, posters, and advertisements, appearing in Time Out New York, Metro New York, amNewYork, Filter Magazine, and more. This year, we are asking not only for designs to use in the media, but also for a related urban intervention, existing alongside the musicians on June 21st, who will perform on the streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas, and cemeteries of New York.

Please submit very short proposals, of no more than 2 pages (in PDF format), to makemusicny@gmail.com by April 15th. Proposals should have two parts: (1) a sketch of a poster design, and (2) a description of an urban intervention, to take place at a large number of concert locations on June 21st. There is no limit to the number of proposals you can submit.

Shortly after April 15th, the Make Music New York board of directors will choose the most promising proposal, and ask the designer to complete the poster design (by May 15th), and implement the urban intervention (by June 21st).  The chosen designer will receive recognition in our e-newsletter, press release, and websites, credit on the poster, and a check for $350.

ABOUT MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK
• All concerts take place outdoors, at 400+ locations throughout NYC on Sunday, June 21st — the first day of summer. Most musicians perform on sidewalks; many perform in parks; some close off streets.
• Every genre of music is represented, performed by amateurs and professionals of all ages. Last year there were 875 performances by NY Philharmonic musicians, high school rock bands, circuit benders, Beijing Opera companies, big bands, punk bands, bluegrass bands, and more.
• The spirit of the event is free and spontaneous, much like Halloween. Instead of stages with high production values, people just show up and play. See photos at www.makemusicny.org.

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ABOUT THE POSTER
• Metro New York will print 50,000 copies of a 4-color, 15″ x 22″ poster on newsprint, and include it in the concert listings as a centerfold.
• Musicians / locations should be able to personalize the poster to promote their concerts — please leave a blank section that can be filled with individual information (see example above–made by Parsons Illustration student Jay Moreno and Nicole Fowler).
• Posters should not lead audiences to expect a particular genre of music. They should be equally suited to classical music, punk rock, jazz, hip hop, etc.
• Posters should have some clear connection with the proposed urban intervention.

ABOUT THE URBAN INTERVENTION
• The intervention should be absurdly cheap.
• It should be present at a large number of MMNY concerts, in both street/sidewalk and park spaces, and should improve the festival experience in some way.
• The intervention should relate to the poster, and tie the various MMNY concerts together visually.
• The intervention can be consistently implemented. (For example, Carlʼs Carpet Warehouse donates 3,000 square feet of red carpet; each musician picks up a piece of carpet on June 20th and uses it as a “stage” on June 21st.) Or it can be a consistent concept, implemented in different ways. (For example, artists in each neighborhood design and weave carpets for their local musicians, with a different color scheme in each borough.) In either case, describe who will carry out the project, and how.
• The intervention should be legal. If youʼre not sure, submit it anyway, along with a backup proposal. Emily Colasacco from the NYC Department of Transportation will go over all submissions and ensure compliance with NYC regulations.

Questions? Email Aaron Friedman at aaron@makemusicny.org.

Good luck!

[Note: Make Music New York pigeon logo by Parsons Illustration student Danielle MacIndoe!]

Gavin Spielman featured on AND in Dan’s Paper

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Parsons Illustration Alum and current Adjunct faculty member Gavin Spielman was recently honored with a cover illustration for an issue of Dan’s Papers.  The issue also featured an interview with Gavin–he discussed his inspiration and techniques.  Here’s a taste:

Q: Despite your being known for landscapes, you experienced a very different kind of scene when you were a student.

A: Yes, I used to hang out in St. Mark’s Place observing homeless people on the street, aging older men. I found them beautiful and sincere, with their weathered looks. I would pay them to pose for me. Oddly enough, my studio is in that same area.

Q: What else were you doing at that time?

A: I was doing graphic design. As a student I studied philosophy and music at SUNY-New Paltz, transferring to Parsons to major in illustration. I teach at Parsons now.

Q: How did that early experience with the homeless influence you?

A: I detached myself from the destitution on the street. I was sacrificing monetary gains to devote my work to the homeless.

Q: Your subjects are different now. How would you characterize your current style and subjects?

A: I’m a traditionalist; I don’t think technology and graphic design adhere to the “Old World” style that I respect. As for subject matter, I don’t look for social subjects now but for muted scenes like what George Innes would do. I am interested in looking for dark scenes, lighting-wise.

Read the rest of the interview here.  You can see more of Gavin’s work on his official website, and if you live in the New York City area, his work is included in a show at 225 Gallery called, “Macy’s is Not the Only Flower Shop in Town!”  The show is up through May 17.

So pick up your copy of Dan’s Papers and stop by 225 Gallery soon!  Congrats, Gavin.

225 Gallery
225 W. 14th Street
Gallery Hours–Mon-Thurs: 10am – 7pm; Fri, Sat, Sun: 10am – 6pm

Guest Entry: Emmanuel Tavares at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair

Current Students, Education, Follow Up, Illustration Industry, News, Reviews, , , ,

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Please enjoy this guest entry from Parsons Illustration senior Emmanuel Tavares, who accompanied our chair, Steven Guarnaccia to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair from March 23rd to Thursday 26th.

Man, do my feet hurt. The Bologna Children’s Book Fair did this to me. It also introduced me to a ton of publishers, directors, artists, and books that i had no idea even existed. The fair is one of the largest children‘s book fairs in the world. It has been held annually in Bologna, Italy for 46 years. After taking Pat Cummings’ Children’s Book class I thought I had an idea of what to expect, and I sort of did. There was just so much more of it. There were hundreds of booths, samples, framed pieces, and words I could not understand. Fortunately we deal with images and the amazing artwork more than bridged the language gap. There were publishers from everywhere including India, Jamaica, Portugal, New Zealand,  Israel, Sri Lanka, Finland, and Australia ( I never understood why a continent would be listed as a country). In all there were 1,300 exhibitors from 69 countries.

Prior to my trip I was put in touch with Marcella Terrusi, the moderator for the week long forum of scheduled discussions at the fair called the “Illustrator’s Café”. Between here advice and Steven’s introducing me to some of his friends in the publishing world there I was able to meet and speak with many publishers who my personal work would pair well with. This was a great opportunity to get insight on what the decision makers in the children’s book publishing world are thinking about when looking at an artist’s work.

I was also asked to speak at the Illustrator’s Café on a panel discussion about Illustrator Blogs. It was a great honor to be on a panel with illustrators Pablo Auladell and Anna Castagnoli and to represent Parsons to such a diverse group of professionals.

The fair was an amazing opportunity to make very important contacts that I was able to take advantage of. The response to my panel discussion was also very reassuring as there were even a few of the audience members from New York who later spoke with me about later contact. I look forward to maintaining contact with the people I’ve met during my trip. And so I’m off to complete a long list of e-mails!

Emmanuel

___

Here is a gallery of images that Emmanuel collected during his visit.  Also make sure to pop over to his website and his blog for more about Emmanuel’s life, art, and career.

Thanks for the recap, E!

Hi-Q: The winners!

Competitions, Current Students, Follow Up, , , ,

Congratulations to the winners in the Bologna Haiku contest!

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First Place: Christine Young

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Second Place: Ana Mouyis

turnerThird Place: Katie Turner

Along with the winners above, several other students’ haikus will be featured in the traveling exhibition, Hi-Q, along with student works from Accademica di Belle Arti di Bologna, ENSAD-Paris, HAW-Hamburg, and Kyoto City University of Arts:

Astrid Mueller
Kendra Yapyapan
Zachary Zezima
Michelle Farkouh
Bernadine Brocker
Paula Searing
Ema Chen
Shu Okada
Meg Eldredge
Roxanna Vizcarra
Evan Turk
Yael Levy
Naomi L. Koffman
Hannah K. Lee
Emmanuel Tavares

Finally, a big thank you to all the students who submitted–everyone did amazing work!

Aftertaste3–New Agendas for the Study of the Interior

Current Students, Education, Events, Talks/Lectures, , , ,

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It is not hard to imagine an apartment whose layout would depend no longer on the activities of the day, but on functional relationships between the rooms… It takes a little more imagination, no doubt, to picture an apartment whose layout was based on the functioning of the senses. We can imagine well enough what a gustatorium might be, or an auditorium, but one might wonder what a visuorium might look like, or an olfactorium or a palporium.

Georges Perec, “The Apartment”, Species of Spaces and Other Pieces [1974]
London: Penguin Books 1997, 31.

AFTERTASTE 3, the annual international symposium dedicated to the critical review of Interior Design, intends to provoke a discussion about the richness of the senses and their role in the comprehension of space and inhabitation. Experimental in character, this conference aims to consider projects and ideas that stem from investigations into the workings of the senses.

Writer Georges Perec famously urged us to imagine separate rooms for taste, hearing, sight, smell and touch, yet one might also inversely challenge the primacy of visual perception by bringing the more peripheral and intertwined aspects of sensory experience into focus.

AFTERTASTE 3 will feature accomplished designers, architects, and artists whose work specifically addresses the complex and still relatively unexplored role of sentient perception in the imagining of interiors.

Here’s a list of participants:

James Auger
Robert Israel
Kent Kleinman
Robert Kirkbride
Joanna Merwood-Salisbury
Charlie Morrow
Jorge Otero-Pailos
Victoria Anne Rospond
Mayer Rus
Emily Thompson
James Tichenor
Sissal Tolaas
Sabine von Fischer
Joshua Walton
Alfred Zollinger

And here is a link to the full schedule.

Aftertaste 3
Friday, April 3rd, 3-7 p.m.
and Saturday, April 4th 10-7 p.m.
Parsons The New School for Design
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium
66 5th Avenue, New York

Alum Brian Ajhar illustrates new book: Gone with the Wand

Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, Publications, , , ,

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Parsons Illustration Alum Brian Ajhar (’80) has a new book coming out in April called Gone with the Wand. Brian contributed the illustrations while Margie Palatini wrote the story. Here’s a snippet of the Kirkus review:

When a fairy godmother’s wand gets that burnt look, and she doesn’t even have enough “bippidy left in her to salacadoo one more pumpkin,” it just may be time for a change of specialty. Or so advises Tooth Fairy Second Class Edith B. Cuspid, dismayed to see the legendary Bernice Sparkelstein sinking into a funk. Unfortunately, experiments with fairy dust, snowflakes and especially sugarplums don’t work out for Bernice at all. It’s time for something less traditional. In a flash of inspiration Edith comes up with just the thing. Tucking occasional bits of funny business into the backgrounds, Ajhar matches Palatini’s typically twinkly, playful prose with offhandedly baroque scenes of the two middle-aged fairies-one short and round in apron and pinafore, the other tall, skinny and sporting a feathered boa beneath a mane of frizzy red ringlets-flitting hither, yon and into the bedrooms of sleeping young royals. [Emphasis added]

You can pre-order your copy here and see more of Brian’s work at his official website.

Congrats, Brian!

R. Sikoryak featured in Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories

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Illustration Alum and Adjunct Faculty member R. Sikoryak has a comic called “Action Camus” (an adaptation of The Stranger) appearing in the new Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories Vol 2, edited by Ivan Brunetti.

Above is the cover design by Dan Clowes and below is the super-cool promo video for the book, which in stores now:

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Congrats, Bob!