Michael Bierut on rebranding Mohawk (via Felt & Wire).
-This is pretty interesting.
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The Art of … Rephlex
Fact magazine picks 10 of their favourite sleeve designs from the 21 years of the Rephlex label’s existence.
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A G Fronzoni
Rapporto Sulla Provincia di Milano
Lithograph
Designer: AG Fronzoni
Year: 1964
Collection: Museum of Modern Art -
Modernity of Tradition: Graphic Design in Slovakia after 1918
Interesting piece on Typotheque’s blog about a recently published book of post-WW1 Slovak graphic design entitled Modernosť tradície: Úžitková grafika na Slovensku po roku 1918 (Slovart), written by Professor Ľubomír Longauer of Bratislava Academy of Fine Arts and featuring his collection of thousands of examples of Slovak design. While Czech design has enjoyed a relatively high profile in recent times, that of Slovakia has been somewhat neglected; it is to be hoped that the present volume, the first in a planned series, and a mooted museum of graphic design may help to redress the balance.
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Leipzig Book Fair 2012
Last weekend I visited the Leipziger Buchmesse. Although it’s primarily a trade fair, it seems to be very public-friendly (it attracts more than 160,000 visitors over four days); when I went, the place was swarming with cosplay enthusiasts drawn to a competition in the manga and comics hall.
One of the more interesting areas for me was the Marktplatz Druckgrafik and Buch + Art section, where printmakers, letterpress practitioners, bookbinders and book artists gave demonstrations and showcased their work – something of a celebration of print.
It was also interesting to note the presence of quite a number of Germany’s art schools, whose graphic design and illustration students evidently produce work each year specifically for the fair. I wonder whether many of them end up working for publishers as a direct result of the Leipzig show.
While the Frankfurt Book Fair is bigger and perhaps more international in scope – Leipzig is very much concerned with the German-speaking publishing world – there was much here to be enjoyed for readers of all stripes.
More photos here.
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Philadelphia International Classics: The Tom Moulton Remixes
Very clever idea, riffing on the logo of Philadelphia International Records, for a release marking the 40th anniversary of the legendary soul label.
(Source: demonmusicgroup.co.uk)
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John Cecil Stephenson: Pioneer of modernism
An exhibition celebrating one of the most gifted – but most neglected – British abstract artists has opened at Durham Art Gallery.
John Cecil Stephenson was one of the key figures in the development of abstract painting in Britain, doing much of his most groundbreaking work at the forefront of modernist and constructivist art during the 1930s. He was born to a working-class Bishop Auckland family in 1889. After art school and munitions work during WWI, he settled in Hampstead where his neighbours came to include Herbert Read, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Naum Gabo. He also became one of Piet Mondrian’s closest friends in London.
He began exploring abstract composition in the early 1930s, initially inspired by forms found in industrial machinery, then progressing to pure geometric non-figuration, contributing over the next decade to many abstract and constructivist exhibitions in England, France and the USA.
Essentially a modest, shy man, Stephenson’s importance was overlooked during his lifetime and after it. He held the position of head of art at Northern Polytechnic in North London for many years, he created murals for the Festival of Britain and architect Bill Curtis’s acclaimed Solar House and he designed glass panels for Queen Mary College and the British pavilion at Brussels Expo 58. Despite this, he didn’t have his first solo show until the late 1950s (he was unable to realise many of his earlier abstract compositions at full size until then due to the short supply of materials). Shortly afterwards though, already by then in his seventies, he suffered a series of strokes which ended his painting career. No public gallery has put on an exhibition of his work for 40 years until now.The exhibition runs until 19 April 2012.
John Cecil Stephenson: Pioneer of Abstraction
Durham Art Gallery
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TU
Durham Art Gallery websitePictured: Rust, Indigo, Blue, Buff (1937) via Liss Fine Art
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Loose as a Goose by singer and boogie pianist Cecil Gant was the flipside of Nashville Jumps, the first release in the R&B series from the eponymous city’s Bullet Records in April 1946.
Cecil Gant - Loose as a Goose (by daddynap)
