Category Archives: Illustration

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)

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:

  • Film Department Chair Ross LaManna talks to CNN about the rise of the graphic novel in Hollywood. CNN
  • Director for Advanced Mobility Research Geoff Wardle chats with The New York Times about the Tata Nano, which will be on display next week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The New York Times
  • Alumnus Tommy Lee Edwards explains his conceptual work for the film The Book of Eli. Livingston Daily
  • Indy Racing League discusses the development of its next-generation racing car, developed with the help of Art Center students. Edmunds Inside Line
  • Painter and Illustration alumnus Paul Rickert’s latest exchibit, Industrial Visions, is currently on display at Rider University in Lawrence, NJ. CentralJersey.com
  • Filmmaker and alumnus Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s fantasy-action-drama epic about ancient Greece, Dawn of War, might be filmed in 3D. Little About

(Pictured: Out of Furnaces, Paul Rickert)

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)

Almost Time for Grad Show!

We caught Illustration student Brian Wade Scott preparing for Friday’s Graduation Show. He’s not the only one—the halls are bustling with activity as graduating students from all disciplines prepare to show their work at Art Center’s Fall Term Graduation Show, this Friday from 7 to 10 pm.

Art Center’s Graduation Show is a wonderful opportunity to visit the College and be inspired by the talent and passion of our students. This free event is open to the public, and includes free parking at the Rose Bowl. Park at the Rose Bowl, Lot K. Free shuttle service from the Rose Bowl to Hillside Campus begins at 6:45 pm.

Won’t you join us? For more information, call 626.396.2356.

 

Through the Eyes of an Alumnus

The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) presents Population: Portraits by Ray Turner, an exhibition of 150 portraits by the Art Center alumnus and former faculty member.

Turner ILLU ’58 fashions a uniquely seductive and engaging fusion of lyrical realism and abstraction in portraiture. A prescient interpreter, Population features intimate portraits of Pasadena residents.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 31. Read more about the exhibit at artdaily.org.

Exploring Sound with Doug Aitken

Artinfo (in an article from the October 2009 Modern Painters issue) visits Art Center alumnus Doug Aitken ILLU ’91 to explore the audio experiments of the renowned video artist.

This month his “sound pavilion” will debut at Brazil’s Instituto Inhotim. For this piece, Aitken drilled a hole deep into the ground to broadcast the earth’s “primal, geologic sounds.”

“As if putting a stethoscope to the planet’s heart, he has used a system of ultrasensitive amplifiers and geomicrophones (like the ones geologists use to record the breaking up of glaciers in Antarctica) to transform these guttural registers into audible sounds that fill a ground-level glass pavilion above. He expects the visitors in the pavilion both to have intensely private experiences and to become part of a larger community—the audience created by sound.”

Read the article here. For more on Aitken, read Art Center’s interview with him here.