Corita Kent
Love, 1979
Screen Print, 20 x 20 inches
“…the ability to feel is very beautiful.” —Corita Kent
Dordt College will display a selection of original screen prints by Corita Kent from the collection of the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles. The exhibition of 26 prints will be on display from January 6 to February 12.
The exhibition has been curated by Dordt College Professor of Art David Versluis. “I attempted to select work that represents the range of Corita Kent’s typographic style and expressiveness,” says Versluis. “As a graphic design instructor for many years I’ve thought about the qualities of Corita Kent and her activist screen prints of the ’60s and ’70s. This exhibition suggests that her message and image prints are as important and relevant for us today as they were nearly 50 years ago.”
Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita) (1918–1986), born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, was an artist, educator, and advocate for social justice. At age 18 she entered the religious order Immaculate Heart of Mary, eventually teaching in and then heading up the art department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. Her work evolved from figurative and religious to incorporating advertising images and slogans, popular song lyrics, biblical verses, and literature. Throughout the ’60s, her work became increasingly political, urging viewers to consider poverty, racism, and injustice.
In 1968 she left the order and moved to Boston. Her work evolved into a sparser, introspective style, influenced by living in a new environment, a secular life, and her battles with cancer. She remained active in social causes until her death in 1986. At the time of her death, she had created almost 800 screen print editions, thousands of watercolors, and innumerable public and private commissions.
Roy R. Behrens sent me this review of the Corita Kent catalog from the College Art Association.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Corita Kent exhibit on display at Dordt College
Thursday, October 27, 2016
A signature piece: Rick Valicenti’s “A Wheel of Fortune—Round and Round”
From the exhibition: (maybe) THIS TIME
Rick Valicenti
Loyola University Artist-in-Residence, 2016–17
Ralph Arnold Gallery
11 October – 26 November 2016
Chicago based artist/designer Rick Valicenti’s Wheel of Fortune—Round and Round installation artwork seems to be a hybrid and hyperbolic time piece with a subtle note of George Nelson’s modern clock designs. The light rays emanating from the center hint at Bernini’s Ecstasy, while the centralized casting of a “death mask” accents the vanitas genre without the moralizing. The piece is a roulette and metaphor for all the small deeds of civility. Photograph above used with permission.
Wheel of Fortune 2016
Industrial Felt
60 x 60"
Fabricated by West Supply
Unique
Round and Round 2016
Polished Aluminum
72 x 72"
In collaboration with Taek Kim
Fabricated by West Supply
Unique
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Sola Scriptura art exhibit at Dordt College
 |
| Geneva Bible leaf, 1597 |
The exhibit celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, to be marked in 2017, by recalling “how Martin Luther brought the Scripture to the forefront as a way to center our personal and communal lives more fully on Christ.”
Sola Scriptura features over 35 works and is divided into three sections: Translating the Bible, Illuminating the Bible, and Picturing the Bible.
Translating the Bible includes portrait engravings of Martin Luther, an 1875 Martin Luther German Bible, and one leaf from a 1541 edition of Luther’s Bible. Illuminating the Bible features New Testament engravings from a German prayer book, illuminated pages from a 15th century Vulgate, and a parchment manuscript used by medieval choirs. Picturing the Bible features contemporary artists who use Biblical text as “an integral part of their artwork.” A few of the contemporary artists featured are Sandra Bowden, Timothy Botts, Susan Coe, and the late Guy Chase. Read More......
Thursday, November 5, 2015
“Notable Quotable” — A Student Typography Poster Competition
© Jordan Harmelink. “Than the Trees.” 2015 Notable Quotable
11 x 17 inches.
A Dordt College Graphic Design 3 studio project.
Quote by Henry David Thoreau
Jordan Harmelink, a Dordt College junior student recently had a poster design selected for the Notable Quotable juried competition, organized by the AIGA Student Group at Southeast Missouri State University and the River Campus Art Gallery. Awards will be announced at a reception on November 6.
The criteria for design included a notable quote, which was expressed with innovative typography. Each designer had to be a student at a university in the state of Missouri or in any state that borders it.
“Notable Quotable” — A Student Typography Poster Competition
© Vanessa Blankespoor. “Elegance” 2015 Notable Quotable
11 x 17 inches.
A Dordt College Graphic Design 3 studio project.
Elegance, is not the abundance of simplicity. It is the absence of complexity. — Alex White
Vanessa Blankespoor, a Dordt College junior recently had a poster design selected for the Notable Quotable juried competition, organized by the AIGA Student Group at Southeast Missouri State University and the River Campus Art Gallery. Awards will be announced at a reception on November 6.
The criteria for design included a notable quote, which was expressed with innovative typography. Each designer had to be a student at a university in the state of Missouri or in any state that borders it.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
“Notable Quotable” — A Student Typography Poster Competition
© Lance Wunderink. “Every film is a puzzle” 2015 Notable Quotable
Received an Honorable Mention
11 x 17 inches.
A Dordt College Graphic Design 3 studio project.
Every film is a puzzle really, from an editorial point of view — Walter Murch.
Lance Wunderink, a Dordt College senior recently had a poster design selected for the Notable Quotable juried competition,
organized by the AIGA Student Group at Southeast Missouri State
University and the River Campus Art Gallery. Awards will be announced at
a reception on November 6.
The criteria for design
included a notable quote, which was expressed with innovative
typography. Each designer had to be a student at a university in the
state of Missouri or in any state that borders it.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
“Notable Quotable” — A Student Typography Poster Competition
© Jordyn Visscher. “Work for a Cause.” 2015 Notable Quotable
Received an Honorable Mention
11 x 17 inches.
Hand-printed wood type; cut, assembled, and printed digitally.
A Dordt College Graphic Design 3 studio project.
Work for a cause not for applause
Live life to express not to impress —author unknown
Jordyn Visscher, a Dordt College junior student recently had a poster design selected for the Notable Quotable juried competition, organized by the AIGA Student Group at Southeast Missouri State University and the River Campus Art Gallery. Awards will be announced at a reception on November 6.
The criteria for design included a notable quote, which was expressed with innovative typography. Each designer had to be a student at a university in the state of Missouri or in any state that borders it.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Vernacular OldType in Grand Marais
Bally’s Blacksmith Shop (built ca.1911), Grand Marais, Minnesota.
This close-up photo features the early signage (perhaps original) on the side of the building. The structure is undergoing renovation as a historical site. Photograph by versluis ©2015.
Perhaps the letterforms in this particular sign were generated by a self-taught sign painter, but the type fitting, letter spacing and classic layout on clapboards is especially interesting. The sign painter expresses ingenuity through the combination of condensed with regular and extended type styles in order to copy-fit the text within the space.
Writer Meredith Davis in her book Graphic Design Theory mentions that:
The often hand-generated and "crudely" designed vernacular faces were in stark contrast to the typographic precision and refinement of late modernism. They recalled the history of communication, distinctions of social class and settings, and associations with how and for whom they were produced. (1)
- Davis, Meredith. Graphic Design Theory. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2012. 120-21. Print.
Monday, August 18, 2014
At the Walker: Art Expanded, 1958–1978—Fluxus / Zaj
ZAJ
José Luis Castillejo
1968/1969
9.25 × 7.25 inches
Screen printing in pink and black ink on white card stock
This strikingly simple large pink “C” is juxtaposed elegantly with a big black dot in this design for a Fluxus style, Zaj performance announcement—the text is in Spanish. Printed on front and back.
Walker Art Center didactic states that this piece in their collection is one of:
Dozens of pieces of ephemera—posters, programs, announcements, postcards, and the like—document the activities of Fluxus and like-minded artist groups such as Zaj and Aktual Art.”
Fluxus rejected the values and conventions of high art in favor of new forms that were accessible, interactive, hybrid, and playful.… For many, Fluxus is a concept expansive enough to include the minimal compositions of La Monte Young, the mystically tinged performances of Joseph Beuys, the wry photographic sculpture of Robert Watts, the Concrete poetry of Emmett Williams, the manifestos and historiographic charts of George Maciunas, and the conceptual objects and films of Yoko Ono—all artists who stood under the Fluxus banner at some point during their careers.… (1)
- Rothfuss, Joan. "Fluxus." Collections. Walker Art Center, 2005. Web. 18 Aug. 2014.
Friday, June 20, 2014
the facination of the uplifting authority word / message
David M. Versluis, ©2014
Redemption
3-color Monoprint
12" x 18"
2014 Society of Typographic Arts Letterpress Workshop:
Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, Two Rivers, Wisconsin
New work by versluis:
Orchestrating and printing large archaic woodtype letterforms or letter-units by spelling out a word or message. Dividing the word according to syllables suggests a more kinetic effect and message.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Society of Typographic Arts & Hamilton Wood Type Museum: 2014 Letterpress Workshop
Recently, the Society of Typographic Arts celebrated the Hamilton Wood Type Museum’s 15th Anniversary with a weekend letterpress workshop, May 31—June 1 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
The workshop was lead by Jim Moran, Director of the Museum and Stephanie Carpenter, Assistant Director of the Museum. The above photograph of one of the wood type displays is courtesy of the STA.
David Versluis, one of the participants, is shown inking wood type from the Museum’s collection, on a Showcard Machine Co. proof press. Versluis states, “Working with wood type is not about nostalgia, but about the unique look and feel of the print quality.” The Museum has 12 presses available for workshop groups. Originally, the Showcard press was used primarily for department stores, libraries, and shop owners to print signs and advertisements.
Photograph by Stephanie Carpenter
Reformation
David M. Versluis ©2014
12 in. x 18 in.
This is a 4-color print. After the first color yellow was printed, the subsequent colors in the order of orange, red, blue were printed and overlaid while the ink was still wet, resulting in textured areas. The kinetic effect is achieved by intentionally revealing registration issues.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Corita Kent: “come alive!”
“come alive!” 1967
Silkscreen
Dimensions: 13" x 23"
photograph by versluis
courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles
Corita suggests a parody of brand graphics from the Brillo box and Tide detergent.
The following is from the Corita Art Center:
Text:Read More......
come alive! you can make it—The glory of Christ is man fully alive man fully alive is the glory of God the blue cross way is very simple we walk together don’t you need somebody to love jefferson air plane you can make it
Quote by Jefferson Airplane, Pepsi generation ad slogan, Saint Irenaeus
Friday, May 2, 2014
Corita Kent: “Lucky Earth”
Corita Kent (Sister Mary Corita)
Silkscreen
Dimensions: 25.5" x 30.5"
photograph by versluis
courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Los Angeles
The following is from the Corita Art Center:
Spring has come back again. The earth is like a child who has memorized poems, oh many!...now it seem worth the effort for she wins the prize. Her teacher was strict. We loved the white hair of the old man's beard when we asked what the green and the blue are, right off she knows every word. Lucky earth, with your holiday, and all the children coming to play! We tried to catch you. The gayest will do it. Teacher trained her until she knew it, and all that’s printed in roots and long unruly stems she sings in a song. —Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, Part 1, no. 21Read More......
Monday, March 31, 2014
art deco typography in the twin cities
Joseph Claude Sinel
New Zealander, 1889-1975
“Model S” scale, c. 1927 (closeup of the base)
International Ticket Scale Company, Manufacturer, New York City
From the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art
photograph by versluis
“You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Society of Typographic Arts (STA–Chicago) 2013 Winter Retreat: “The Architecture of Letterforms”
STA Promotion Materials
L–R credits starting at the top:
Aaron Siskind, 1951; Norman Ives, 1967; Walker Evans, 1973; Dennis Ichiyama, 1991; Candice Martello, 2010; Renata Graw, 2011; Jack Weiss, 2011; Peter Fraterdeus, 2011
Recently, January 19–20, 2013, the Society of Typographic Arts Winter Retreat was held at the Eaglewood Resort, Itasca, Illinois. The STA was founded in Chicago in 1927. The theme of the retreat was, “The Architecture of Letterforms” and the list of enthusiastic conference attendees ranged from Chicago design luminaries to distinguished design practitioners and acclaimed design educators.
The events began on Friday evening the 19th with Rick Valicenti leading off with an enjoyable, keen and jam-packed keynote presentation titled Talking Type. Rick is a master at observing and understanding correlations of a particular topic. Valicenti is the founder and design director of Thirst, a communication design firm based in Chicago.
Valicenti’s presentation highlighted the necessity of having conversations about type (“We need to talk”) and the aspect that “We’re all in this together.” It presaged the eleven or twelve presentations that were given the next day at the conference. Using the metaphor of “rhizome” as community and continuum, Valicenti summarized the history of communication design starting with the Texturalis (1190–1407), to Gutenberg’s Bible (1455), to Bradbury Thompson (Rock and Roll), to Paul Sych (Toronto) and the present.
Valicenti’s Talking Type presentation initiated a dialogue and was a wonderful celebration of the art and function of typography. Conference presentations on Saturday continued with thoughtful conversation.
Thought-provoking conversation can bring out the paradoxical. For instance, while not incongruous to Rick’s message and other presenters was Joseph Michael Essex (SX2) who expressed in his presentation, “What separates art from design is typography… a highly manipulative process… and an element of communication—not art… typography is the language of [visual communication] designers….”
Discussing the differences and similarities of the art of typography in communication design is fascinatingly and relevant for today’s designers. We need to talk about type.
At the conference, Jack Weiss, who was proud of his students efforts and accomplishments, presented student portfolios of typographic work in which his students were asked to cut-down letters to the esence of form and yet still retain the identity of the letter. In addition to his design practice Jack teaches in the graphic design program at Columbia College Chicago and organized the 2013 STA Winter Retreat.
Friday, September 14, 2012
John August Swanson as graphic designer: 1972 Cesar Chavez United Farm Workers Poster
John August Swanson, Struggle for Justice: 40th Anniversary Poster, 2012/1972
© John August Swanson 2012
“It is my hope that this art work [my posters] might serve as an inspiration and a tool for those working to organize those who have been displaced and marginalized by economic injustice into compassionate communities empowered to implement justice and bring peace.” —John August Swanson
The Dordt College department of art and design is busy preparing and anticipating the next art exhibition featuring the Richard and Helen De Vos collection of John August Swanson's iconic advent series of serigraphs. The exhibition will be installed in the Campus Center Art Gallery from October 10 to December 2.
In addition, we have become inspired by Swanson graphic design work. Compared to Swanson's serigraphs very little is known about his social activist posters. Illustrated above is John's recently reissued poster from 1972 titled "Struggle for Justice” which is a 40th anniversary commemorative piece. Of import is that the poster has as much relevance today as it did in 1968 and the poster is a significant reminder that challenges still exist for racial and economic justice in our society.
About the poster Swanson writes the following on his website:
The poster, STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, was first created forty years ago, in 1972 to help raise money for the United Farm Workers. The original printing was limited to one hundred posters.
As I recall, the union provided me with a statement from Cesar Chavez’s 1968 speech. My idea for the poster design was to use his words to create a “newspaper,” a black and white montage of photos and lettering. For the lettering, I used a variety of typefaces; many of these were rubber-stamp alphabets I had carved from rubber erasers and other materials. His words became my “headlines,” accompanied by images showing the struggles of the United Farm Workers in our agricultural fields and the attacks from the giant agribusiness corporations. I also used other photos depicting labor, race, and economic struggles throughout the 20th century in the United States. I interspersed the words and photo images, hoping that this would be an interesting design and would best communicate the message of our continuing struggle to bring justice for all.Read More......
In 2011, I felt the message still resonated with strong grass-root movements: the energetic actions of the Occupy Movement, the growing awareness and participation of the Global Warming and Environmental Movements, the struggle of workers to protect their labor unions, and the renewed effort of the Peace Movement. I decided the poster should be reprinted. The original poster was revised with new images, revised spacing, and adapted text. Now, I hope this poster will bring Chávez’s powerful words to students, to union workers, and to those who struggle for justice. I hope this work will encourage, strengthen, and empower those who seek a just and peaceful world.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Victor Hammer—to the greater glory of God
This is a Transylvania College, Lexington, Kentucky, announcement for an exhibition of the work of Victor Hammer in the Lexington Public Library, June 10–July 1, 1950. This vintage portrait linocut and American Uncial type were both created and printed by Victor Hammer. Image is from American Artist magazine, June 1962. [1]
Despite the obvious religious imagery illustrated above, Hammer apparently was not an active member of a Christian church; nevertheless, according to Father Thomas Merton, Hammer was a very faithful servant and a believer. (See Father Louie)
Here’s a brief synopsis about Victor Hammer and his Uncial type, written by The Reverend Travis DuPriest, Book Editor for The Living Church:
A Note on Victor Hammer and His Work:
An Austrian by birth, Victor Hammer (1882–1967) lived and worked throughout Europe and the United States. He was in every sense of the word a Renaissance man and was a close friend of Thomas Merton the monk, Jacques Maritain the philosopher, John Jacob Niles the musician and countless other writers and artists. His paintings and books have been featured in numerous shows; last fall [1995] the Grolier Club of New York City honored him and his wife, Carolyn, with an exhibition of their hand-printed books and prints. His work is a part of private and permanent collections in Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Lexington, Ky., Palm Beach, Fla., New York City, London, Paris and elsewhere. He and his family left Austria during World War II and made their way to the United States, where he taught at Wells College, Aurora, N.Y., and Transylvania College, Lexington, KY. He is buried in Lexington. The uncial type he designed and cut and printed with is based on classical and medieval lettering which is quite curvilinear; Hammer preferred this form for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it purposefully slows down the reader and induces a contemplative approach to the page, the book and the ideas. [2]
- Ettenberg, Eugene M. “Graphic Arts: U.S.A.” American Artist June 1962: 110. Print.
- Holbrook, Paul E. “The Art/Craft of Victor Hammer.” The Archives of the Episcopal Church: The Living Church, 1995-2001. Ed. Christopher S. Wells. The Living Church Foundation Inc., 17 Nov. 1996. Web. 19 June 2012.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Herbert Matter’s 1955 History of Writing Mural for the Grosse Pointe Public Library
The Central branch of the Grosse Pointe Public Library was designed by architect Marcel Breuer and opened in 1953 in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Shown (top is a vintage photograph of the library building that dates from the around the mid-50s. The image above is of Herbert Matter’s (1907–1984) History of Writing photomontage-mural for the Grosse Pointe Public Library, which was completed in 1955. This image is a clipping from a 1956 article in American Artist magazine written by Eugene M. Ettenberg. For the caption, Ettenberg summarized Matter’s project outline:
Matter’s mural, twenty-five feet long and nine feet high, for the new Grosse Pointe, Michigan Public Library designed by Marcel Breuer, portrays the history of the alphabet. Starting with the prehistoric stone scribblings, it follows the development of our letters through pictographs—cave drawings, hieroglyphs, Easter Island and Mayan markings—early communications from Crete, China, Arabia, and right up to the present-day letter form we term “Egyptian” to be seen on the locomotives and cars of the New Haven Railroad.
Detail images above are courtesy of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. Select image for a larger view.
According to library information, W. Hawkins Ferry felt it would be appropriate for the library to have art depicting the development of the written word (the idea was Matter’s concept) and commissioned Matter to do the mural. The mural, completed in 1955 for the adult reading room, is a photomontage—Matter’s preferred medium. The work displays a pattern of communication symbols and illustrates the evolution of writing from 12,000 B.C. It includes elements of Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese and the typeface of the Gutenberg Bible.
Above is a brief, hand-written correspondence from Matter to Breuer (1955) that accompanied the enclosure outlining the chronology of artifacts and elements within the mural. Apparently there were inevitable delays in completing the mural on time and in the note Matter thanks Breuer for his patience. This piece is in the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive, Syracuse University Library. [1]
- Matter, Herbert. Letter to Marcel Breuer: Mural for the Grosse Pointe Public Library. 1951-52 [1955]. Syracuse University, Syracuse. Web. 5 June 2012.
Image is courtesy of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. Read More......
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Jindřich Heisler: Surrealism under Pressure
Jindřich Heisler (Czech, 1914–1953)
Alphabet, 1952; the letter A
Collage of woodcut reproductions on wood
The Art Institute of Chicago
Select image for a larger view
The Art Institute of Chicago currently is hosting a wonderful exhibition titled, Jindřich Heisler: Surrealism under Pressure. The exhibition is on display in the Photography Galleries 2–4 until 1 July, 2012. Included in the show, as stated by the Art Institute, “is a marvelous alphabet of wooden letters, faced with glued-on xylographic montages reminiscent of Max Ernst.” Heisler collaged images to approximately .125 inch (3.175 mm) plywood and very carefully cut out the shapes. The exhibition curator explains the piece as follows:
Alphabet, Heisler’s magnum opus, is also likely his last extant work. The 25 exactingly designed plywood cutouts (the letter W is not part of Czech and French orthography), covered on one side in 19th-century woodcut reproductions, are both playful and haunting. Each depicts an intricately crafted scene of mystery and violence, and many feature demonic encounters. Heisler apparently used the letters for occult games, such as a version of tarot that involved composing his friends’ names and “reading” the stories they yielded. French Surrealist colleague Robert Benayoun may have had Alphabet in mind when he recalled at Heisler’s death his “inner sense for graphic harmony,” and André Breton used six of the letters to form the word absolu (absolute) at what proved to be the last Surrealist exhibition in Breton’s lifetime, in 1966.Read More......
Friday, January 20, 2012
Interrelations between writing and typography
The beauty of letters, whether handwritten or typographic, is that they constitute the black shape and white space of both letter-making forms. The counter form or inner parts of letters and the surrounding white or negative space are integral to the positive black shapes of the letter and word.
Dutch typographer, Gerrit Noordzij writes admirably about this interrelation of positive and negative letter forms in his book, The Stroke: Theory of Writing (2006) (translated by Peter Enneson):
Current studies of writing do not attend to the white of the word, but to the black of the letter. Consequently considerations of writing exhaust themselves in the exploration of superficial differences. The universal vantage point that renders handwriting and typographic letters comparable is not to be found in the black of the letter. The black of a typographic letter is so different from the black of a handwritten letter that as strict comparatives they appear incommensurate. Wherever typography concerns itself only with the black shapes of the prefabricated letters printable on paper, the academic study of writing is coerced into separating the consideration of handwriting from a history of type. (p.17)Both writing and typography utilize the relationship in two-dimensional design of the figure and ground design elements. This means that the contrast of negative forms is of equal value to the positive shapes. In letter and word construction the contrast of the black encircled by the white surface or visa versa are enriched with tension. Read More......
