Showing posts with label Ray Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray Johnson. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2009

K-TYPE : Font Of Genius

UK Font designer Keith Bates and his K-Type is something of a genius in the typography world.  And a legend already.  His "Norton" type face is used on Jon Stewart's THE DAILY SHOW and he has created niche fonts as homages for artists and friends as well.

Keith writes: "K-Type Norton is the choice of typeface for “Old Man Stewart” on the current series of top US satire, The Daily Show. The font which is based on the four characters in the old Norton motorcycles logo, has been updated for contemporary use and expanded to include a lower case and our usual full compliment of accented characters."

Keith's Ray Johnson font (HOW TO DRAW RAY JOHNSON) is being used for A BOOK ABOUT DEATH, a global mail art project. (A Mail Art font exists as well). And fonts for Roy Lichtenstein and others are total winners. The typography artist creates fonts for both commercial and personal use. Check him out.

Friday, August 29, 2008

COLLAGE BY BLACK DOG PUBLISHING

Collage has been at the forefront of the digital revolution, if not for the final results, then for the method, a way of mixing images and texts via computer manipulation. Like music sampling (hip hop and rap), multiple sources can be "glued" together to create something extremely new and strange. The dadaists seized on the methods employed by Picasso and Braque, and the surrealists made a living out of collage to great and what appears to be everlasting effect. It can be argued that collage is perhaps the preeminent art method of the 20th and 21st centuries. Modern masters like Joseph Cornell and Ray Johnson created some of the most memorable collages, with the later extending his signature methods into pretty much all aspects of his life and art.

Just out is the new fat volume on the subject by Black Dog Publishing / UK : Collage Assembling Contemporary Art. With known experts Sally O’Reilly, Ian Monroe, David Lillington and John Stezaker among the contributors, the hardcover 240 page color book retails for £35.00.

According to Black Dog Publishing: "Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art is a striking and authoritative survey of the history of collage, from its origins through to the work being produced by artists today. (Image, THE PEOPLE, Matthew Rose, right).

With contemporary artists reclaiming the form, collage is flourishing. From the traditional ‘cut and paste’ method through to digital, three dimensional and installation work, and in the incorporation of contemporary concerns such as environment and commercialism, collage is experiencing an exciting renaissance.

First gaining popularity in the early 1900s, with such pieces as Picasso’s The Dream in 1908 and Still Life with Chair Caning in 1912, collage has proliferated though the ages. From figures such as Kurt Schwitters, to works by the Constructivists, Dadaists, and Surrealists, to 1960s and 70s Pop Art, the form has branched out into a myriad of fine art practice that encompasses assemblage, montage, and décolage. Collage draws together the work of influential artists to contextualize the art being produced today.

Collage features the art of such internationally acclaimed artists as Picasso, Schwitters and Ernst, Hannah Hoch, Marta Rosler, John Stezaker, Richard Hamilton, Layla Curtis, David Salle, Eduardo Poalozzi, Javier Rodriguez, Robert Rauschenberg, David Thorpe, Fred Tomaselli, Matthew Rose and many more.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Sheridan in Dublin

Malachy Quinn, the Paris-based Irish playwright is taking his successful tragi-comedy, Sheridan, on the road to Dublin. After a sold out run in Paris this spring, Sheridan, directed by theater veteran Yves Jégo, will play in French with "some simultaneous translation" at the Andrews Lane Studio theater in Dublin. Lalande played a role in this play, producing flyers, posters, invitations, program booklets and the very cool A2-sized panels that will be flipped during the play so Dubliners will be able to follow the wonderfully absurd action led by the soldier painter in his quest to vanquish non-believers in his artistic enterprises. We used a special Ray Johnson typeface created by UK font designer Keith Bates for the "subtitles." Ray Johnson, the late artist and an acknowledged master of collage and "father of mail art" was a living legend (and a great friend).

If you are living in Dublin or planning an August visit between 9 Thursday to 11 Saturday and want to book a seat, call, from Dublin: 01 679 5720. Tickets are 15 euros.