the secret's in the circle

I was at The Museum of the City of New York for the Joel Meyerowitz exhibition Legacy: Preservation of Wildernesses in New York City Parks and the Eero Saarinen exhibition, Shaping the Future. Joel's photographs were stunning and I have made a New Year's resolution to discover at least one new park this year since I am so close to them all. I'm a big fan of Saarinen and seeing his chairs all perky and candy colored made me smile. Then I came across this little exhibition Only in New York, pictures from Look Magazine. I thought this one photo of bill board sign painters put some perspective on my ever changing business as an agent to artists in advertising, among other fields. With emails and file sharing this is would never happen today and I felt I was a witness to a truly dead art. How can an art form die so easily? Perhaps it could get some attention if the process was brought back to life.

www.mcny.org

tread on me

I'm always on the lookout for interesting uses of art and illustration. I represent quite a few artists whose work would look fantastic as a rug. It may sound cliche at first, wouldn't this make a great lamp shade? But when you really put it to the test, in other words can you live with this in your own house, then it really becomes a serious challenge. I can't find the wonderful rugs this little article talks about on the rug company's website, http://www.therugcompany.com/ but I will post more information when I discover it. When talking with my good friend and designer of watches http://www.yotawatchworks.com/ (among other things) Anne Herlihy blew my mind with this doosie from Fornasetti. I can picture this one in my house!

fairy dust

I've had some comments that my posts are a little on the depressing side, so here's some fairy dust.

Seriously, I love this idea. I saw it in Garnet Hill catalog and it's a great example of print on demand which in my mind means temporary and a classic which in my mind means enduring.

The artist and author create a beautiful tableau for each letter of the alphabet which can be assembled individually for each child. It's a great idea and lovely in this fairy tale format.

Joyce Patti is an artist represented by my good friends at Morgan & Gaynin.

I'll have to get more of the back story from Vicki and Gail like who the publisher is and whose idea it was. Apparently the artist and author have been working on it for a while and the originals are for sale as well.

This just in...the publisher is I SEE ME, thanks Vicki!

Great job!

make print a work of art

Amidst reports of a growing US population claiming food stamp relief, news of the US military's catch and release program of OBL and the Treasury telling Banks they won't get another penny of tax payer's money until they start helping the same taxpayers stay in their homes...I found these 2 full page ads in the NY Times.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (MTDP) ad looks better through the view finder of an iPhone (what doesn't?) than it does at arms length while sipping my morning coffee. I am not a fan of the everything but the kitchen sink composition they insist on year after year, however when I snapped the pic I had the aha moment - it felt like/looked like the balloons were towering above me, transporting me right into the event.

But with a poster like this it's unlikely I will be drawn to attend the event. Maybe the parade has become yet another New York event promoted to out-of-towners and B&T people (full disclosure: I'm a B&T person now), but I have always pined for a benefactor or perfect storm of creatives and merchandisers who see the potential in utilizing the most sought after ad space in the world in the most culturally wealthy and prolific city in the world to promote the annual iconic event for the largest store in the world (so called).

What if a set of limited edition balloons and prints were made and re-purposed by the great fine and commercial artists of our time paying tribute to the spectacle and giving the promotion and merchandise a longer shelf life than just a few days. I recall in 2005 when Blue Sky Gallery launched a Tom Otterness designed Humpty Dumpty balloon for the parade with a set of his own parade posters. It was so much more effective for me, as a New Yorker, creating the need to attend the parade to see a piece of art. I wanted one of the posters too which gave an impression of being one-of-a-kind or a limited edition. A Keith Haring tribute called Pop Art in the Sky was launched in 2008 and a balloon called "Rabbit" by Jeff Koons in 2007 both by Blue Sky Gallery.

(see link)

The ads in the newspapers and the posters around town really need to step it up. With print vying for it's relevancy these days, all the more reason to really make the ads and posters a piece of art with anticipation generating more press. The posters and the ads could be collector worthy for the home and archive. I think New York is up to the challenge to put art back into newsprint surrounding this great event.

http://www.tomostudio.com/exhibitions_macys.html

Next on the chopping block is Starbucks life is a wonderful gift to give ad. Sadly it's possible Starbucks and (RED) didn't have the budget for such a worthy cause or the creative muscle behind it to make it a knock-out but the message was completely lost on me in a forum with a barrage of depressing news and information. Alternately, if we choose to make the printed medium a forum for great works of art - the writers are Pulitzer prize winners - then causes such as fighting AIDS might have a fighting chance to catch our attention and hard earned coin. Lets make the printed medium a work of art.

think vs.

As I was dodging traffic on 48th and 7th ave in NY, this billboard stood out among the very annoyingly un-green competitors in the neighborhood. I now know its for Kentucky Fried Chicken aiming to change my thinking about it's brand to make room in my mind for a more healthy grilled version. But chicken was not on my mind at 10 AM Sunday morning. But it caught my eye because this has been my mantra lately. When I finally decided to embark on the terrifying path of having my own blog it occurred to me I'm thinking about it instead of doing it. unthink = just do it. I have also been training my thinking to ask the question how can this be better? how can that be improved upon? Its most likely a question every artist asks on a daily basis in an effort to create demand for their ideas and artform. I'm not an artist by trade but I have a great appreciation for this question and I've turned it into a conversation directed internally by giving my thoughts and ideas a voice. Sooo, what was on my mind at that exact moment? That rear car lights (red) should really denote acceleration like a rocket blast and a flashing yellow should be introduced to indicate braking and solid yellow a full stop.

your store

This is a cartoon by David Sipress seen in the recent issue of The New Yorker.

I'm representing artists to greeting card publishers and various product manufactures and it's a challenge to communicate to the free spirit of an artist what is marketable. This drawing made me laugh because if the stores were organized by the artists and not the sales and marketing team, I think it would look like a very different place. Wouldn't it be fun to design a store for your own line of products too?

striking reportage

I've been meaning to check out the Robert Franks exhibition The Americans, but I guess I went to the wrong museum. I end up at MoMA and there's a small exhibition including some compelling examples of photographer's work funded by the government to scan the States for evidence of public sentiment during the depression. These 2 pics touched me, as I feel the same sentiment on the streets today. We tried, we failed, we quit is both humorous and unsettling - I guess it's just honest. This would be a great assignment today for our eager and earnest artists.