Roman Cieślewicz Retrospective

London's Royal College of Art are exhibiting the first major UK retrospective of Polish designer, Roman Cieślewicz's work from Friday (16 July) until 17 August.

"Cieślewicz was - alongside Fernando Arrabal and Alejandro Jodorowsky - a member of Panique, the 'last' surrealist group in France. At the same time he was a brilliant art director at Elle, and a contributor to Vogue. Remarkably prolific, he also worked closely with figures from the worlds of advertising and fashion including Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton.

Extraordinarily talented as an image-maker, Cieślewicz’s tools were not the pen or the brush but the scalpel and scissors. Working with collage, he produced compelling and original images by reworking familiar icons such Che Guevara or Mona Lisa. “I always go for the maximum picture and the maximum information. You need to stimulate imagination to the maximum” - he once said in an interview."

The exhibition will include 150 pieces of Cieślewicz's diverse work including the iconic magazine covers created for Opus (above top & middle) and the poster he designed for Hitchcock's Vertigo (above bottom). The collections on display are from the National Museum in Poznan, the Museum Art in Łódź and the private collection of Cezary Pieczyński.

See other posts about Roman Cieślewicz here and here.

Images copyright Roman Cieślewicz from 'Roman Cieślewicz: Master of Graphic Design' by Margo Rouard-Snowman. Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 1993.
Quotation from the Polish Cultural Institute.

Charley Harper at Castor + Pollux

The Charley Harper private view at Castor + Pollux on Friday night was great, the vintage prints looked fantastic framed and mounted up together and I noticed lots of red dots, so if you want one I would get down there sharpish. We are now the proud owners of the Trumpeter Swan (above) which I absolutely love and can't wait for the exhibition to end so we can bring it home (huge thanks Mike)! From memory the following were still available:





As well as the vintage prints on display they also have a selection of limited edition giclee prints and few of the posters Harper designed towards the end of his career (below) which are huge and great value for money at £35-45 unframed or mounted on board for an additional £30.






Congrats to everyone at Castor + Pollux for putting on such a great show!

Images copyright the Estate of Charley Harper.

Huge news for UK Charley Harper fans...

Our friends at Castor + Pollux, Brighton have just announced the first UK exhibition of American illustrator Charley Harper's outstanding work. To say we're excited is an understatement!

Fans of Harper will be familiar with his work for Ford Times and know that many of his illustrations were also offered to readers as screen prints.

Well, this exhibition has 22 of the original Ford Times screen prints from the 50's and 60's hand-printed by the Harpers in their basement, along with some later prints from the 70's and 80's printed by the studio.

Last week I was fortunate enough to have a sneaky peak at the work and I can report it's even more amazing in the flesh than it is in any book.

The private view is on Friday 2 July and the exhibition runs from 3 July to 5 September 2010, so there is plenty of time to plan a trip to the seaside (Castor + Pollux is right on the seafront).

Read more about Charley Harper here and here.

Rob Clarke at The Print block

Bird - 7 Colour Screen Print. 255mm X 343mm. Edition of 40. £82.

Great Tit - 4 Colour Screen Print. 255mm X 343mm. Edition of 40. £82.

Bird - 1 Colour Screen Print. 255mm X 343mm. Edition of 25. £58.

Great Tit - 1 Colour Screen Print. 255mm X 343mm. Edition of 25. £58.

If like us, you are a fan of Rob Clarke's work then you'll be very pleased to hear that his work has been officially taken on by Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.

He's also been busy creating new prints (above) with The Print Block, Whitstable which are now available through their website. I have no idea what kind of bird it is, but the top one is definitely my favourite.

See more of Rob's work here and here.

Nobrow Gallery

Nobrow have just dropped us a note to tell us about their new gallery (above) in fashionable Shoreditch, London!

Nobrow started in 2008 as an "independent publishing platform for illustration and the graphic arts that would showcase some of the best talent out there today, whether fresh out of college or from the ranks of well seasoned veterans".

They're inaugral exhibition Dungeons and Desktops runs until 22 July and is showcasing the wonderful work of illustrator Jack Teagle.

"Dungeons and Desktops is an exhibition that seamlessly melds the worlds of the fantastic and mundane, a cornucopia of staplers and swords, benefits and beasts, hair monsters and HR managers."

Prints, sculptures and original works from their catalogue of published illustrators and artists including Richard Hogg, Joe Crocker and Blexbolex (below) are also available in the gallery.


All images copyright Nobrow.

Paul Catherall at Castor + Pollux

Well the Brighton Festival is now in full swing and to celebrate, our friends at Castor + Pollux are showing new linocuts from the wonderful Paul Catherall.

We're big fans of his work and can't wait to see the exhibition which includes a print of Brighton's infamous Embassy Court building (top), which is available at the special price of £250 (unframed) when ordered before the 15 May or bought at the private view evening.

The private view on the evening of Friday 14 May kicks off the exhibition which will then run from 15 May - 20 June.

See more work from Paul Catherall here.

Images copyright Paul Catherall, taken from Castor + Pollux.

Jumpology!

How fantastic are these jumping photos by Philippe Halsman? I love them.

A Life photographer with over 101 cover shots to his name, a regular contributor to LOOK and the Saturday Evening Post, Halsman was often commissioned to shoot the rich, famous and influential people of the 50's. During this time he had the wonderful idea of Jump! - once the official shoots ended he would ask the stars (no matter how famous or important) to jump. The resulting images (above) are brilliant and show the celebs in such a natural, relaxed way.

"Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Salvador Dali, Weegee, Jack Dempsey and even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor agreed to take a leap of faith. In that era of live television along with the popularity of the big glossy magazines, one’s image was not nearly as protected and shaped by handlers as it is today. There was a feeling of innocence, a desire for spontaneity, and Halsman, with his playful and charming personality, knew he had to get almost everyone to oblige his demand: JUMP!"

Halsman called the series, 'Jumpology!' and for the first time they are being exhibited at the Laurence Miller Gallery in New York (exhibition runs until 28 May 2010). For those that can't make it over to NY there was a book of the images (below) published in 1986 which is still available here and here.

Images copyright of the artist, taken from Laurence Miller Gallery.
Via The Photography Post and Notcot.