Visual Arts Briefs

Paul Shaw, faculty member in both the Art History and BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Departments, has had his book Helvetica and the New York City Subway System (MIT Press, 2011) reviewed in the Wall Street Journal.

Described as a, “typographic detective story [that] manages to be a history of the New York subway, a survey of global transportation graphics and an authoritative over view of 20th-century design in action,” Shaw’s book disproves the widespread belief that the modern New York City subway system has always been associated with the Swiss typeface Helvetica. The review explains that, “the heart of Mr. Shaw’s book is the story of what happened when these champions of High Modernism [Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda] collided with the union labor at the Transit Authority’s Bergen Street sign shop,” and the book is defined as, “one of the best-researched books on modern design to date.”

• In and Out with Dick and Jane: A Loving Parody (Abrams Image, 2011) by Ross MacDonald and James Victore: For this short book of social satire, BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department faculty member James Victore teams up with illustrator Ross MacDonald to put the old-school children’s primer characters Dick and Jane through the paces of the contemporary world. Behind the squeaky-clean images and peachy-keene text lie sex, violence, gluttony, drug use and other sins. Definitely not for kids.
• Bello Bike People by Gina Bello: Combining a love of collage with a passion for cycling, alumnus Gina Bello (BFA 1985 Graphic Design) has created the Bike People series, which transforms recognizable cycling iconography into a quartet of unusual figurative images. Each of her Bike People collages is available as canvas or paper prints, T-shirts and coasters; more information is available at bellobikepeople.com.
• The Narrative (R)evolution: A Re-Writing of Ideas in the Interplay of Language, Art and Cyberspace (VDM Verlag, 2010) by Kara Rooney: The debut book by Art History Department faculty member and MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department alumnus looks at the fundamental human inclination to tell stories across aural, visual and electronic media. Rooney’s examination of storytelling reaches back to the earliest moments in history and moves through to the current era’s digital-narrative landscape.

Distinguished alumnus Sol LeWitt (1953 Illustration) died in 2007, but that isn’t stopping a group of SVA students from carrying on conversations with the conceptual artist. As part of an assignment by Art History Department faculty member Raphy Sarkissian, students were asked to, “Create a linear, abstract drawing in response to a specific work of Sol LeWitt,” from the collection on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) site.

The results form the basis of a two-stage exhibition, the first of which took place earlier this year at Cabinet Magazine Space in Brooklyn, with the second part now on view at MASS MoCA. “An Exchange With Sol LeWitt” runs through Thursday, March 31, featuring works by Rachel Ake, Alexis Aquista, Carla Asperilla, Saebom Bae, Alexandra Blaiotta, Paulo Campos, Michael Caudo, Jessica Chen, Thomas Duffy, Robert Engvall, Paul Fiore, Ya Rim Hur, Mana Ikeda, Hyeram Jeon, Da Young Jeong, Julia Kim, You Jin Kim, Lisa Lok, Jose Molestina, David Oswald, Seongmi Park, Andrea Rubio, Agatha Salvatierra, Deanna Sperrazza, Cassidy Toner, Elyssa Willadsen and Christopher Zulakis, along with pieces by Sarkissian and alumnus Louise P. Sloane (BFA 1974 Fine Arts).

Image: “An Exchange With Sol LeWitt” at MASS MoCA.

In commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the publication of Wassily Kandinsky’s seminal text On the Spiritual in Art, the BFA Fine Arts Department has invited renowned artists and scholars to participate in Beyond Kandinsky: Revisiting the Spiritual in Art, a 10-day online symposium beginning Wednesday, March 30. The symposium will examine the book’s influence on artists and writers throughout its 100-year history, as well as its relevance and interpretation within a contemporary context.

Organized and moderated by artist, writer and faculty member Taney Roniger and writer and filmmaker Eric Zechman, the symposium will open a dialogue between participating art historians, media historians, critics, visual artists and filmmakers on how the questions raised by Kandinsky’s book can be explored within the current cultural landscape. Symposium participants include: artist, theoretician and BFA Fine Arts Department Chair Suzanne Anker; philosopher, curator and BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department and Art History Department Chair Tom Huhn; and scholar, critic and MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department Chair David Levi Strauss; among many others. Beyond Kandinsky symposium participants are currently posting their introductory statements online; to read these and to follow the full event, visit beyondkandinsky.net.

In conjunction with the symposium, SVA will present a screening of four works by avant-garde filmmaker and symposium participant Nathaniel Dorsky at the SVA Theatre: Sarabande (2008), Winter (2008), Compline (2009) and Aubade (2010). The films will be shown on Tuesday, April 5, 7pm at 333 West 23rd Street. The screening is free and open to the public.

Image: Nathaniel Dorsky, still from Compline, 2009.

With a cover designed by longtime BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department faculty member James Victore, the August 2010 issue of Print magazine features a variety of contributions by and profiles of SVA faculty members. MPS Branding Department Chair Debbie Millman contributed an essay and illustrations about leadership skills in graphic design, highlighting the importance of preparation and honesty. Discussing Typekit and recent developments in Internet typography, Jason Santa Maria, a faculty member in the MFA Interaction Design Department, was interviewed by Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department. Art History and BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department faculty member Paul Shaw penned an appreciation of Jovica Veljovic’s typeface designs. Another member of the MFA Interaction Design Department faculty, Khoi Vinh, wrote an article about how smartphone apps are changing the way Web designers work. Finally, Heller and BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department faculty member Michael Ian Kaye provide social and design commentary in the magazine’s Rants + Raves section.

One in a series of occasional dispatches from SVA’s Summer Arts Abroad programs. This dispatch was sent by student Shannon Broder.

Our last full day in France was by far the most exciting. Our first stop was St. Remy, where we visited the mental hospital where Vincent Van Gogh committed himself at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. The grounds of the hospital were absolutely beautiful, but it was hard not to get an eerie feeling while walking through old patients rooms. After St. Remy we traveled to Les Baux, a huge fortress that was literally carved out of the top of a mountain. We climbed to the highest tower and were able to look out for miles; the view was breathtaking.

Our final stop for the day was Cathedrale D’Images, an old cathedral that had been carved out of a quarry. What made this cathedral unique however was that it had been transformed into a modern art exhibit, with images and films being projected on every surface of an otherwise pitch-black quarry. We were fully submerged in the art by this incredible installation. I am in love with the architecture, the art and the culture in Southern France, and I am really going to miss walking the streets of Avignon every day.

Images: Photos by Shannon Broder.

One in a series of occasional dispatches from SVA’s Summer Arts Abroad programs. This dispatch was sent by student Shannon Broder.

Southern France is brimming with the history of famous painters. While in Arles we walked in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh, visiting the site of the Yellow House where he dreamed of starting the “Studio of the South” with post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin. Both artists stayed in the Yellow House and created a tremendous body of work throughout 1888. Still in Arles is the café that Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night (the venue has been renamed Café Van Gogh). We also visited the Hotel Dieu, the hospital where Van Gogh stayed after he cut off his ear.

On another expedition to the town of Aix-en-Provence, we focused on the life of painter Paul Cézanne. We were able to go inside Cézanne’s actual studio, which has been well preserved with all of his tools and belongings. We also climbed up to the view from which Cezanne created his many paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire.

Images: (top) Art History and BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department Chair Tom Huhn with Arts Abroad students; (bottom) a view of Mont Sainte-Victorie in Aix en Provence. Photos by Shannon Broder.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, several members of the SVA community are displaying their work at the Degenerate Craft Fair (DCF), a traveling pop-up shop featuring handmade works of art. Organized by Art History, BFA Fine Arts and BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department faculty member Amy Wilson (BFA 1995 Fine Arts) and current BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department student Shannon Broder, the DCF will have jewelry, stuffed animals, CDs, stickers, clothing and books, all generally priced under $50.

The DCF is making rounds in the city this month, setting up shop in three different locations over three weeks in December. Last weekend the fair opened at Silent Barn, and this week the fair will be at 303 Grand, 303 Grand Street, Brooklyn, on Sunday, December 13, from 12 noon – 10pm, with a reception from 8 – 10pm; and Monday, December 14, from 12 noon – 8pm. The final location will be BravinLee programs in Mahattan, 526 West 26th Street, Suite 211, on Friday, December 18, from 12 noon – 9pm; and Saturday, December 19, from 12 noon – 6pm.

The fair features the work of several SVA artists including: current BFA Fine Arts Department students Victoria Duffee, Florencia Escudero, George Heintz, Ji Youn Hong, Nina Lichtman, Abigail Lloyd, Chris Retsina and Thang Tran; BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department students Giancarlo Corbacho, Erin Dodge and Jonny Ruzzo; BFA Photography Department student Carly Planker; BFA Visual and Critical Studies Deparment student Marissa Havers; and alumni Renee Delosh (BFA 2009 Fine Arts), James Farias (BFA 2009 Fine Arts), Lauren Fatzinger (BFA 2009 Fine Arts), Shalimar Luis (BFA 2007 Graphic Design), Andi Magenheimer (BFA 2009 Fine Arts), Yura Osborn (BFA 2009 Fine Arts), Greg Roth (BFA 2009 Cartooning) and Rachel Wheeler (BFA 2007 Graphic Design). More images of the fair and work for sale are viewable on the DCF’s Flickr photostream.

Image: The Rapt Boutique table at the Degenerate Craft Fair at Silent Barn; photo by Shannon Broder.

• Honeybee: From Hive to Home, Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper, by C. Marina Marchese (BFA 1988 Illustration): An unusual memoir by an illustrator-turned-beekeeper, describing the path from her first tour of a neighbor’s honeybee hives to the eventual founding of her company Red Bee Honey (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2009).
• Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story, by Paul Shaw (faculty, Art History and BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Departments): A limited-edition book that traces the history of Helvetica as the official typeface of the NYC subways. Shaw will be on hand for a book signing event at the Type Directors Club, 347 West 36th Street, Suite 603, on Wednesday, December 9, 6 – 8pm. To register for the free event, e-mail director@tdc.org or call 212.633.8943 (110 Editions, 2009).
• The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust, by Deborah Durland DeSaix (MFA 1986 Illustration as Visual Essay) and Karen Gray Ruelle: A book for young readers that tells the true story of Muslims in a French mosque who saved Jews from capture by the Nazis (Holiday House, 2009).

Alumnus and BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department faculty member Fernanda Cohen (BFA 2004 Illustration) recently received a Jury Award in Altpick’s 2008 Alt Awards for the series War of Words. Altpick, a professional organization for illustrators, photographers, graphic, Web and interactive designers, and animators, presents both juried and peer-reviewed annual awards in each of its creative fields. According to the artist, these winning pieces explore “the dynamic behind 10 different universal arguments: politics, love, childhood, sports, customer service, religion, protests, parenthood, friendship and self.” The illustrations also received a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York and a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles in 2008.
Another recent prize went to Art History Department faculty member Tamara Kostianovsky, who was a 2008 recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Grant. Established in 1985 by painter Lee Krasner (who was also the widow of artist Jackson Pollock), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation awards grants to working artists around the world.