My run into "Tournee du chat noir"

  by, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen 

(first I didn't actually run into the piece)

    

    I was in an office building last week and seen this poster on the wall. It caught my eye because of the contrast. I didn't think much of it until I started reading chapter 11 in our textbooks and seen the poster. I was pretty excited that something so old is still being used today, even if it is just for decoration.

Here's a little information on Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen:

·     >He loved cats

·     >First Paris commissions were cat drawings for Le Chat Noir

·     >Was a prolific illustrator, his radical political views, socialist affiliations, and anticlerical stance led him     toward social realism depicting poverty, exploitation, and the working class.

·     >His black-and-white lithographs often had color printed by a stencil process.

·    >His 305 by 228-centimeter (10 by 7-foot) multipanel poster for the printer Charles Verneau mirrored the pedestrians on adjacent Parisian sidewalks in nearly life-sized, environmental scale. 

under our nose

       believe it or not dccc has an art gallery, usually people pass right by without noticing or don't pass by it at all. Of course I would know because this is my 9th month working there. The exhibit taking place at the moment is 215/610: a juried drawing exhibition of regional emerging artists. The opening reception was last Wednesday September 21, 2011 from 5-8 and it's on view until october 28th.
   There are 13 artists begging displayed and I'd have to say my favorite is by Mark Munson, raincloud, pen and ink/graphite. From a distance it looks interesting but you don't notice the true genius until you go up close and see all the tiny details the had to take months to complete. My second favorite would be Peter Alele,(2) untitled, graphite an paper. These 2 piece I find interesting to look at because their abstract and they make you think. I believe the 2 piece are actually 2 of many. (I wish I could have seen them all together) I could only image the kind of impact they would have. I bet they wouldn't look just like scribbles any more.
      Sebastien Ledercq, Imperial Rhodia-Brand graph pad, ink on card stock and pencil with staples. This piece is fascinating to me because it looks like an ordinary graph pad. What makes it so unique is that it was all created/constructed by hand. From the cover, the logo, to the binding, even all the blue lines on the paper were done by hand. Gaberiela Vainsencher, nothing matters (cat), ink and acrylic on paper, is another favorite of mine. The colors are so vibrant and it is the only piece with text. I find it humorous because there is a picture of a cat and the text reads: nothing matters  your fear doesn't matter   the furniture doesn't matter. There are more than just these 4 artists in the exhibit but I think it's best for me to leave it at this, because you should check it out.
              (I have no pictures because the actual pieces are in the school gallery and people should look at them in person...)

Graphis

  I've decided to have my first blog be about Graphis. Before 2004 Graphis published magazines that had works  from fine artists and illustrators, as well as photography and advertising. Now Graphis has their own website with a complete archive of award-winning work from the annuals, the introduction of the new Journal, and my favorite digital versions of the past magazines.
I first learned about Graphis last semester when I was able to get a few copies of their magazines. I thought they were the best things ever so I subscribed for more of them. Funny thing was, I thought I was subscribing to get copies of the actual magazine not access to their website and the digital versions. After a lot of complications, I was finally able to get all my money back.
I was attracted to the magazines so much because their different from the kind you get at the grocery store. There better constructed for one, have more content and they have things I'm actually interested in and want to read.There's information about graphic design, fine artists, illustrators, photography, and advertising from the specific time of the issue. As the times changed so did the magazine until eventually people stopped buying them and in 2004 they stopped publishing them. Luckily if there is anyone who wants to purchase an actual magazine you still can through the Graphis web site. I have to say their a little expensive, but when you think about how much the magazine has it's worth it. I think it's more like a book then a magazine myself.