Kemistry Gallery

Hey Studio!

matthew-dent — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:43:49 +0000

Hey Studio

(August 1st – September 14th 2013)

Hey Studio are a design studio based in Barcelona, working in brand identity, illustration and editorial design. Hey! have a really recognisable style, working with Geometry, color, and typography. We are happy to host an extension of their most recent exhibition ‘Gods’.

For more information regarding the show please feel free to get in touch. The work will also be available from the online shop and also in the gallery itself.

Storm Thorgerson

matthew-dent — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:57:57 +0000

After his passing last week, it seemed like a good time to look back at the work of design legend Storm Thorgerson. Storm created some of the most memorable album covers of our time, including Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon.’

Similar to Neil Fujita’s outlook on album covers some years earlier, the distinctive style, and change from common ideas and methods, made him one of the most recognisable and sought after designers. Thorgerson wanted to show more than a photograph, expressing a sense of the emotion attached to each particular record. The following quote and video above sum him up perfectly.

“Pictures of a band, like the Beatles, or Take That, what do they tell you? They tell you what they look like, but nothing about what’s in their hearts, or in their music. If you were trying to present an emotion, or a feeling, or an idea, or a theme, or an obsession, or a perversion, or a preoccupation, when would it have four guys in it?”

www.stormthorgerson.com

Macdonald Gill

matthew-dent — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:45:05 +0000

Macdonald Gill

(March 28th – May 4th 2013)

The younger brother of the sculptor and type designer Eric Gill, Max Gill was best known for pictorial maps, particularly his 1914 ‘Wonderground’ map of the London Underground system. This was hugely popular, selling in its thousands and inspiring a resurgence of pictorial and decorative map- making in Britain, the United States, Latin America and Australia.

His skills have been recognised in recent years by map lovers and lettering enthusiasts and his work has begun to gain a much wider audience following the major retrospective exhibition at the University of Brighton in 2011. Max initially pursued a career in architecture and then branched out into lettering, before concentrating on working as a ‘commerical artist’ carrying out commissions for decorative maps and graphics. Although Max was overtaken by Eric in fame, in his time he was hugely popular.

Max Gill’s talents and influence extended to many other areas. In 1917 he joined the Imperial War Graves Commission committee responsible for designing headstones and he also designed the lettering and regimental badges for the war graves that can be found in churchyards and cemeteries across Britain and around the world. He created hundreds of other works, including a huge map of the North Atlantic, which is still to be seen on the preserved liner Queen Mary in California.

For more information on Max Gill and his work, visit here.

Press Release

Stefan Glerum

matthew-dent — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:43:37 +0000

Stefan Glerum

(November 9th – November 30th 2013)

Stefan Glerum (1983) lives and works in Amsterdam.

Stefan spent four years in Breda studying illustration at the Academy St. Joost. He also worked as an assistant to one of the country’s most celebrated comic artists, Joost Swarte.

Stefan Glerum’s style is like a melting pot of illustration heritage. While its subconscious familiarity has universal appeal, his work is also a study point for those with knowledge of graphic design history. His work is inspired by early 20th Century movements such as Art Deco, Bauhaus, Italian Futurism and Russian Constructivism, which he combines with popular themes, executed in a style reminiscent of the clear line.

For more information regarding the show please feel free to get in touch. The work will also be available from the online shop and also in the gallery itself.

Pushpin

matthew-dent — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:43:14 +0000

Seymour Chwast & Milton Glaser

(September 19th – November 2nd 2013)

Push Pin Studios is a graphic design and illustration studio formed in New York City in 1954. Cooper Union graduates Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Reynold Ruffins, and Edward Sorel founded the studio.

After graduating from Cooper Union, Sorel and Chwast worked for a short time at Esquire magazine, both being fired on the same day. Joining forces to form an art studio, they called it “Push Pin” after a mailing piece, The Push Pin Almanack, which they self-published during their time at Esquire. Sorel and Chwast used their unemployment checks to rent a cold-water flat on East 17th Street in Manhattan. A few months later, Glaser returned from a Fulbright Fellowship year in Italy and joined the studio. The bi-monthly publication The Push Pin Graphic was a product of their collaboration. A distinctive quality of Push Pin’s early illustration work was a “bulgy” three-dimensional line. Sorel left Push Pin in 1956, the same day the studio moved into a much nicer space on East 57th Street.[1] For twenty years Glaser and Chwast directed Push Pin, while it became a guiding reference in the world of graphic design. Today, Chwast is principal of The Pushpin Group, Inc. The exhibition “The Push Pin Style” traveled to the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre, as well as numerous cities in Europe, Brazil, and Japan in 1970–72.
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For more information regarding the show please feel free to get in touch. The work will also be available from the online shop and also in the gallery itself.

Alvin Lustig

matthew-dent — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:56:05 +0000

Alvin Lustig was an American book designer, graphic designer and typographer.

Lustig lived a relatively short life but managed to produce a huge amount of work in many different areas of the design world. Amongst other things he set up his own architectural furniture company in the 40′s, and produced abstract geometric designs for a wide selection of book covers. Many people seem to feel that Lustig was well ahead of his time and although his passing was premature, he definitely left a lasting legacy that still inspires us all.

Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig is a must purchase.

Buy Here

alvinlustig.com

New screen print by Rob Lowe

matthew-dent — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:58:05 +0000

During the first week of April, Peckham Print Studio will be hosting a pop-up studio and gallery at Boxpark, Shoreditch. Kemistry friend and exhibitor Rob Lowe has produced a lovely new three colour screen print, which will be on sale during the show. There will also be a selection of events and workshops throughout the week.

Peckham Print Studio launched last year and have a fantastic space where you can learn the art of screen printing. If you want to visit their pop-up shop it will be open to the public from 1st – 7th April 2013. For more information click here.

Photo’s courtesy of Peckham Print Studio

Rob Lowe Prints

Supermundane.com

Jim Houser – Search Party

matthew-dent — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:59:27 +0000

If you are not familiar with the work of Jim Houser, well then you definitely should be! I was lucky to catch Jim’s show at Colette back in 2008, and I have been following his work ever since. His 2005 book ‘Babel’ is truly inspiring and a good starting point if you want to play catch up.

Jim is a Philadelphia-based artist known for his canvas paintings, mixed media installations and multi panel paintings. Working with personal thoughts, memories, phrases and random imagery all drawn from everyday life experiences, his work varies from the complex to the overly simple. Known for being self-taught, Jim manages to create a certain warmness and personal touch that makes each piece and show so memorable.

Following on from Parra’s latest exhibition, Jim has a new solo show opening at the Jonathan Levine gallery next month, titled ‘Search Party‘, so if you happen to be in New York it’s definitely worth a visit. The show runs between the 6th April — 4th May, 2013.

Jim Houser
Search Party
Gallery II
Solo Exhibition
Apr 6 — May 4, 2013

Neil Fujita

matthew-dent — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:46:29 +0000

Every Monday we look back at the work of a design great. Today we visit graphic designer Neil Fujita, a Japanese-American, who created some of the most iconic album covers and book jackets of our time. Working for Columbia and CBS Records in the 1950s, he was among the most important album cover artists of the twentieth century, taking his own ideas on abstraction to the masses.

With an early interest in the likes of Paul Rand, Pablo Picasso and Braque, Fujita used his paintings and typography to convey the style of the record, often looking at the how the musician sounded and what image was representative of that. This was carried out across many Jazz records, the most recognised being Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

After leaving Columbia for a short time, Fujita returned to produce some of the most memorable book jackets. Designing the covers for ‘The Godfather’, ‘In Cold Blood’ and ‘Pigeon Feathers’. Fujita went on to teach at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, the Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design, sadly passing away at the age of 89 in 2010.

For Further Reading:

www.midcenturia.com/2010/12/s-neil-fujita-paintings-illustration.html

www.aiga.org/s-neil-fujita-1921-2010

Jeff Canham

matthew-dent — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:47:38 +0000

American painter and illustrator Jeff Canham currently lives and works in San Francisco, creating beautiful hand painted objects, signs and prints. Jeff’s work explores language and quotes, but stands out from the traditional sign paintings we are all familiar with. Not only is the message important, but its the small graphic details constructed around the text that really form each piece.

To view more of Jeffs work visit his website, there is so much to look it will keep you busy for hours!

jeffcanham.com