Vinyl Revisioned: Gang of Four/Entertainment!

Gang of Four's debut 1979 release, Entertainment! is an underground classic that I never tire of hearing. Oddly enough, I only just discovered it a few years ago and for someone that is a huge fanatic for just about every other UK punk, post-punk and new wave band from the same era, I am still shocked that I was not exposed to it much sooner.

Perhaps it was the fact that the Gang of Four lacked a particularly, dynamic or iconic visual element associated with it, compared to a band like the Buzzcocks or the Sex Pistols. Those albums are so ingrained in my mind as the pure forces of that musical era. With that in mind, I set out to tackle a redesign of an underground classic, that was new to me.

Appropriating a contextual cue from the original album artwork, I incorporated both stereotypical imagery of "Cowboys and Indians" and topical information such as newspaper headlines. I have designed a visually dissonant work that echoes with themes of disillusionment and alienation found amongst the content of the lyrics.

Vinyl Revisionists

I'm proud to be one of the exhibiting artists in Vinyl Revisionists. Opens Friday, March 30, 2012 at Warner Brothers Records in Burbank, CA.

Gang Of Four - Entertainment!

Ether, the opening track from the debut LP, Entertainment!, by Gang Of Four. Released in 1979 by Warner Brothers Records in the US and EMI in the UK.

This LP is also my selection for an upcoming exhibition at Warner Brothers Records, where my redesign/reinterpretation for this post-punk classic will be displayed. The show opens March 24, 2012. More info soon...

JRF for Obey Clothing/Artist Series

JRF x OBEY from OBEY CLOTHING on Vimeo.

From PiL: First Issue

Lydon's anthem that cast aside the Pistols' legacy and declared a more interesting and more sophisticated group, Public Image Limited.

From 1979.

PLINC Exhibition Chapman University

The folks at House Industries and PLINC have an upcoming exhibition at Chapman University, which opens February 6, 2012. Details over at the PLINC site.

Fanatical Mechanical: Photo-Lettering and the Paste-Up Era
Opening: Feb. 6, 2012, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Opening Lecture: Rich Roat of House Industries, Feb. 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Place: Chapman University Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, Calif.
Exhibition Runs from Feb. 6 through March 9, 2012
Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

House Industries celebrates the craft of Photo-Lettering’s past while presenting it in the context of contemporary relevance. David Dodde’s prodigious hand-printed panels and substantial scrims mingle with custom lithographic layers and fascinating alphabetic fixtures by fanatical fabricators Marc Wiegers and Roger VanTill of Greenwood Studios. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are carefully excavated and curated historical Photo-Lettering components including original films, rare specimen books and ceramic artifacts.

REFERENCE LIBRARY 2012

Kicking off 2012 with a few selected pieces of references and mood board grabs from my digital desktop.

DDC-051 "Philadelphia Freedom Poster"

I'm a fan of DDC and the personality behind it, Mr. Aaron Draplin. He does great work, cares about the history of his medium and is funny as hell.

I guess Draplin's been doing a lot of speaking engagements/lectures and knocking out amazing prints to promote and accompany the various venues.

To summarize: support this dude. He does kick ass shit.

LOUD FLASH: British Punk on Paper

A little late with this posting, but above is a small sampling of 'Loud Flash: British Punk on Paper' exhibit from Honor Fraser Gallery in LA. It's a well-curated and very rare selections of prints, flyers, zines and other ephemera from the personal collection of Brit, Toby Mott. No doubt, THE most impressive presentation of the era that I've ever seen...most of which, in terms of design, is absolutely brilliant.

Press release from Honor Fraser:

Honor Fraser is pleased to announce Loud Flash: British Punk on Paper, opening Saturday July 16, 6 to 8pm, and on view through August 27, 2011.

This exhibition is a compelling portrait of a particular moment in British popular culture, at the bitter end of the post-war period. It tells its story through a unique collection of several hundred posters, flyers and other ephemera assembled by artist and erstwhile punk, Toby Mott. With the passion of a true fan and an artist's eye for an image, he has gathered the evidence of the short life and premature, messy end of British Punk. There are iconic images by artists such as Jamie Reid and Linder Sterling, as well as flyers, gig posters, and zines, crudely cut and pasted by anonymous hands. A fascinating collection of political material supplies further context of a nation of unrest, torn by extremism, recording attempts by political extremes of both left and right to co-opt the power of youth.

Ephemeral and throwaway as each of these objects were, collected together they tell, in uniquely immediate and visual terms, a part of the history of Britain, the history of ideas, and the history of art. Punk has always exerted a fascination, but perhaps never stronger than at this moment. The legacy of punk has permeated modern culture and society, and its visual vocabulary infuses much contemporary art, while the punk spirit resonates in particular with the anti-elitist, DIY ethos of today's young, blogging artists and musicians. This exhibition recalls the anarchic spirit of authenticity and amateurism, the volatile and ambiguous celebration of negativity, creativity, violence and protest that was Punk.

REFERENCE LIBRARY/Taliban Don't Surf PT. 2

My previous post, below, showed some of the content and concept of the Taliban Don't Surf print. Above are a few aspects of the craft of the design; from first thumbnail sketch (dated 2/21/11) and notes, to illustrating type specimens and creating other analog elements for use in the collage. After a few dozen digital comps, films are ripped, screens are coated and burned, inks mixed, paper trimmed and registered and squeegees pulled.

The final product, a two color, 18" x 24" screenprint, on 100# archival, black stock is available now (6/30/11) via 1xRun.com.

REFERENCE LIBRARY/Taliban Don't Surf

A few pieces of digital ephemera that serve the story of the upcoming Taliban Don't Surf print, available June 30, 2011, exclusively at 1xRun.com.