Category Archives: Fine Art

Tad Beck Weighs in on Current Work

It’s always interesting to hear about an installation directly from the artist. As we recently reported, contemporary artist and Art Center alum Tad Beck’s current exhibition, Palimpsest, is part of LACMA’s Manly Pursuits: The Sporting Images of Thomas Eakins. His work is a response to Eakins’ Grafly Album, also on view in the exhibition.

Beck weighs in on his installation in a guest post on LACMA’s blog, Unframed:

“During the installation of my exhibition Palimpsest, I was able to have my own private exploration of Manly Pursuits. I had never seen many of these works in person, though Eakins has been one of my primary influences since parallels emerged with my own practice. … Both Eakins’s and my own work focus on nude models. The locations look very much the same, and both Eakins and I are treading water. There was even similar passion for creating axis. While none of these parallels were intentional in Roll, they became definitive and almost seemed beyond coincidence.”

Read more: Tad Beck on his Installation, Palimpsest

Roll from CellPhoneStories @LACMA on Vimeo.

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

Jorge Pardo, "Bulgogi"

  • A new mixed media installation by Fine Art alum Jorge Pardo, Bulgogi, at Gagosian Gallery. artdaily.org
  • Top-seller at Vroman’s Bookstore features cover illustrations by Art Center students. Pasadena Star-News
  • Catching up with top hot-rod designer and Art Center Transportation Design alum Chip Foose. Los Angeles Times
  • Photography and Imaging alum Dan Chavkin discovers mid-century inspiration in Palm Springs. MyDesert.com

Catching up with Wendy MacNaughton

Excited about the new iPhone? Check out this clever illustration by Fine Art alum Wendy MacNaughton.

MacNaughton stays busy—she illustrated the July cover for San Fran’s 7×7, and sits down for an interesting Q&A with the publication as well. She’s also currently featured on Jen Bekman’s 20×200.

You can buy MacNaughton’s 7×7′s cover art as a poster, or purchase other work by her at 20×200. Also, check out our online profile on her. Good work, Wendy!

Es Tiempo Wins I.D. Award

Great news: Es Tiempo, a cervical cancer awareness campaign which resulted from a Designmatters transdisciplinary studio has won Best of Category in the Student Division of I.D.’s 2010 Annual Design Review. The project was among more than 400 entries.

The project, a collaboration between Designmatters, USC’s Keck School of Medicine and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, took place last summer and was led by the College’s Advertising Department, including lead faculty Elena Salij and Maria Moon. Es Tiempo is a broad-based communications and outreach campaign encouraging Latinas to seek out early cervical cancer screening.

A warm congratulations to the student team behind Es Tiempo: Phillip An (Illustration), Mark Brinn (Graphic Design), Chris Lack (Graphic Design), Tracy Hung (Graphic Design), Haelee Kang (Graphic Design), Lucia Loiso (Photography and Imaging) and Camille Ontiveros (Fine Art).

Read more about Es Tiempo at the project’s website, and be sure to check out this great write-up by DesignObserver.

On Campus: Marian Bantjes

Don’t miss artist, typographer, designer and writer Marian Bantjes, who will speak at Art Center Thursday.  Working from her home on a small island off the west coast of Canada, her personal, obsessive and sometimes strange graphic work has brought her international recognition. Following her interests in complexity and structure, she is known for her custom typography, detailed and lovingly precise vector art, obsessive handwork, patterning and ornament.

Marian Bantjes
Thursday, February 18, 7:30 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium
Hillside Campus

(Pictured: Influence Map, Marian Bantjes)

Wayne White Stops By

Illustrator and artist Wayne White was on campus yesterday to speak to Art Center students in the Ahmanson Theater. He spoke about his journey from Pee Wee’s Playhouse (where his set and puppet designs won three Emmy Awards) to art direction for music videos (Big Time and Tonight, Tonight) to a seminal painting career of works witty, wordy and various. A book signing followed the talk.

There’s an interesting writeup of White’s recent exhibit at Houston’s Rice University Gallery at glasstire.com.

(Pictured: Pretend You’re Someplace Else, Wayne White, 2008)

Ceramics Virtuoso Celebrates 95th

There’s an interesting article on ceramist Harrison McIntosh FINE ’36 in today’s L.A. Times. He is celebrating his 95th birthday with a retrospective exhibition at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona. McIntosh studied at Art Center in the ’30s, when we were located in downtown Los Angeles. He is known as “a virtuoso of pure, gracefully handmade objects that represent the classical vein of Southern California’s postwar crafts movement in museum collections around the world.”

The exhibition runs through Jan. 9, 2010.