Artists and collectives took part in “Pick Me Up“, a contemporary graphic art fair at Somerset House organized by Claire Catterall. Peepshow Collective showed a selection of prints, artwork, books and objects that were all available for purchase. They also ran a print workshop using pre-made woodblocks designed by the Peepshow team for creating one-off relief prints. Pictured above is Andrew Rae’s “Ghost in the Machine” silkscreen.
Alan Cresto captures the energy and exuberance of children for the Spring/Summer 2010 Company Kids campaign. His images can be seen online and in print. Company Kids Creative Director John Botti comments “I’ve been working with Alan for years – the quality of his work is wonderful, especially the way he wraps light around his subjects.”
What Cresto likes about kids is that “they’ll find something to do with the simplest things – for example, a tug of war with a rope made out of bandannas. Kids have a spark and joy of life to them, a sense of untainted wonder, and that is how I like to portray them.”
N.E.R.D. rolls around the California desert in a custom-wrapped Rolls Royce designed by FriendsWithYou for their upcoming music video “Hot & Fun.” The single featuring Nelly Furtado drops in June. In the meantime, teaser music videos by Fro Rojas have been proliferated around the web. FriendsWithYou’s Super Malfi gets some special attention from a few party-goers in Rojas’ “The Party Version.” In creating the one-of-a-kind Rolls Royce FriendsWithYou says “Magical Explosions [were] born, a psychedelic take over of FriendsWithYou cosmic forces.”
Thornberg & Forester designed and animated a motion billboard for Disney’s Mary Poppins Broadway musical, working with agency Serino Coyne. The simple yet bold design on 47th street and Broadway stands out among the maze of flashing lights in Times Square.
Chief Creative Office of Serino Coyne Sandy Block says, “In what is the most advertising-inundated location in the world, how better to evoke the larger-than-life magic of Disney’s MARY POPPINS than with the biggest sign you could possibly imagine: a 230-foot high by 80-foot wide, 12-screen, digital display with 15,000 square-feet of LED power. Now, put that in front of 100,000 visitors every day at the epicenter of the most popular New York City hub, and you’ve got yourself the perfect match-up of show and signage.”
“Everyone has stuff they care or obsess about,” states Michael Warren. He asks people to bring their most treasured objects, dead, alive, or somewhere in-between for his “Somebodies” project. The only requirement for the objects is that they are able to be carried by hand. The results run the gamut – a boy brings his favorite toys, a father brings used tissues of his late wife, and a sculptor brings a mysteriously formed rock. Each week on Warren’s “Somebodies” blog a new portrait will be posted with that person’s object of value. The chosen objects give insight into each person as the viewer learns about what makes the objects so precious.
Austin Merrill reports for Vanity Fair’s online section “Fair Play” about ESPN’s expanded coverage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. ESPN enlisted Wieden+Kennedy for the ad campaign that features work by Am I Collective. 32 murals by Am I Collective (one for each team) will appear on billboards and more in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Stephen Wilkes works with Our Man in Havana on the Bronx Zoo campaign for The Wildlife Conservation Society. The campaign blankets New York City, displayed on special inserts in magazines, bus shelters, subway cars, platform posters, and even wrapping the entirety of the Shuttle train that takes passengers back and forth from Penn Station to Grand Central.
The spectacular subway car wrap will remain for a month. Says Creative Director Andrew Golomb, “When you see Stephen’s images life-size on the subway car, the amount of detail is just unbelievable. He has done an amazing job bringing the zoo to life in such an artful way.” Comments Wilkes, “I hope people will look up from their cellular phones and Blackberries along their busy commute and see the train filled with crocodiles, fish, and more animals and feel as though they are really looking into a window at the zoo.”
Am I Collective animated and directed a 30 second viral video for the Nike Sportswear Six Collection. Of the six countries in the “Bleed Your Colors” campaign, artists Am I Collective and Kronk represent the spirit of South Africa, the host nation of the 2010 World Cup. The Kronk x Nike sportswear collection launched in early May in stores stateside.
The video was filmed in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Am I Collective artist Chris Hewitt created the mascot that runs through the cities like a virus infecting the urban environment. The mascot changes colors throughout this journey, each color reflecting the mascot’s personality. Says Mark van Nierkerk of Am I Collective, “Black represents the darker competitive side of sport, yellow – speed and endurance and green – growth and development.”
The Selby brings his lenses into the homes of Stephen Knoll, Hervé Pierre, Rita Konig, Lyndsay Caleo and Fitzhugh Karol, and Anthony Malat and Jamie Isaia for New York Magazine’s design issue “Home Design 2010: The New Old.” The five homes represent five new movements that indulge an interest in the past: Neo Victorians, NeoFormal, NeoCountry, NeoVersailles, and NeoEnglish.
Esther Pearl Watson releases the second volume of Unlovable, an illustrated series based on the 1980′s era diary that Watson found in a gas station bathroom written by a high school girl. Says The Seattle Weekly, “Watson’s graphic style and messily scrawled confessions read like a genuine diary, filled with humor and despair. Unlovable makes me grateful to be past that painful stage.”
If you are in Los Angeles, join Watson for the book release at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue on Wednesday, May 12th from 7:30-9:30pm.
The Mothership Group, Central Illustration Agency, and Pirates have opened up a pop up bar as art installation project. Pop-Up Pirates will be open from May through August as a late-night bar featuring art installations. The Mothership Group is a nightlife group, Central Illustration Agency is an artist management agency, and Pirates is a collective of artists that work with mixed media such as spraypaint, set-design, paper, film, and filmography. The 4am license ensures the party will continue long into the night.
Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers 2010/2011 has recently been released. Bernstein & Andriulli photographers Stewart Cohen, Florian Geiss, Christophe Gilbert, Stuart Hall, Emir Haveric, and Michael Schnabel are featured for their work in Animals, Automotive, Beauty and Nudes, Children, Interiors, Landscape, Life, People, and Transportation categories. The 416 page volume includes art from 111 photographers that were nominated by ad agency art directors. Lürzer’s Archive then invites the photographers to submit their best work and an international jury of 8 makes the final selections. Congratulations to Cohen, Gilbert, Hall, Haveric, and Schnabel for standing out among the 6,539 submissions.
Norwegian denim label Anti Sweden releases limited edition denim collaboration with Jeremyville. Anti Sweden’s “evil and darkness” combines with the “acid pop” look of Jeremyville, with the artist depicting surreal images of menace, carnage, and destruction. Only 666 pairs of the limited edition jeans exist. The first 400 purchasers have the option of receiving a large-scale collector’s edition screenprint, each signed by Jeremyville.
Comments Anti Sweden, “[Jeremyville's] interpretation of evil and darkness combined with his signature style ended up better than we could ever imagine from our darkest fantasies. Its a study in storytelling thru a set of intricate details that you need to dive into.”
Photo District News announces “the innovators who made the year in photography.” Erwin Olaf and Michael Schnabel were recognized for their advertising work, Stephen Wilkes was honored for three of his editorial pieces, and Stewart Cohen’s and Joel Meyerowitz’s photo books were lauded. Pictured above is Olaf’s “Voltaren” campaign with agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The campaign illustrates that with Voltaren gel, the elderly can become flexible as flexible as a ballerina, dancer, or yoga instructor. Creative Director: Magnus Olsson. Art Directors: Alexander Lagoet, Rick Coolegem.
