Here’s some recent work created by members of Illustrators Ireland. Each member has submitted one of their favourite illustrations from the previous month, either commissioned or personal. Follow the link below to see all this month’s entries.
Illustrator Nate Williams asks the question in this recent blog post, including a survey of others reactions. You can also hear a recent interview with Nate on the ‘Escape from Illustration Island’ podcast.
This years Movember charity art auction is in full swing over on eBay with 9 days left to bid on a favourite piece. There’s a great mix illustration, painting and photography. Check out the show when you have a moment.
Oliver Jeffers has donated a limited edition print with the title Adolf Dali, as he says:
…’which imagines what Hitler would have looked like with Salvador’s flamboyant facial hair. I cant think of any other individual who has ownership of a moustache quite as much as Hitler did of the toothbrush style stache. Even Charlie Chaplin doesn’t really get a look in… but that’s possibly because he never actually grew one. It was fake.’
The crème of national and international designers and illustrators have been rounded up as part of ‘Heineken Expression’, three gigs taking place in Dublin, Cork and Galway during October and November to celebrate creativity and the Heineken Bottle.
The last stop on the creative roller coaster is Karma in Galway this Friday 27th November.
Musically, a celebration of all things Irish and electronic. Marcus Lambkin, better known as Shit Robot has been splitting his time between Dublin, New York and Berlin makes the journey to Ruari’s homeland of Galway for the night. Fresh from eclectic sets at Sonar and Oxegen, Ruari will be joined by Prins Thomas favourite Mano Le Tough. Galway favourite Cian O’Ciobhain completes the line up.
Illustrators competing in the live UV Art Off on the night include
Phil Dunne http://www.lovetherobot.com
Steve Simpson http://www.stevesimpson.com
Chris Judge http://www.chrisjudge.com
Gaetan Billault http://www.gaetan-billault.com
BRENB http://www.brenb.net
**NOTE – you must register for FREE tickets on http://expression.heineken.ie **
Check out http://expression.heineken.ie for more details
I finally got to see Pixar’s Up in the cinema on Saturday (just in the knick of time before it leaves the cinema) and I was blown away. As usual Pixar did a fantastic job of making a film that’s both visually stunning but also has a great story. The art books that Pixar produce in conjunction with their films are beautiful lavish tomes but I have not seen one for Up yet. In the meantime concept artist Lou Romano has posted lots of his amazing development & production work from 2005-2008 on his blog.
Alé Mercado has just illustrated the latest issue of Kilkenny poetry magazine Rhyme Rag issue 5. You can check out the magazine here on issuu. After the break are a few spreads from the magazine…
If you can put the Ryanair ‘calendar girls’ out of your mind for a second you might be surprised to learn that Irish aviation advertising was once a thing of beauty. They even used illustration. Oh, and they were Dutch.
NCAD Gallery is running a series of lectures on the postwar period in Irish graphic design starting with a conversation between Jan de Fouw and Conor Clarke on 17th November at 6.30. Full Schedule below:
Tuesday 17th November, 6.30pm
Jan de Fouw, the well-known Dutch designer who moved to Ireland in 1951, and Conor Clarke, founder & Director of Design Factory and author of ‘Orange and Green’ will hold a public conversation focusing on how Ireland’s image was moulded by Jan in the 1950s and 1960s.
Tuesday 1st December, 6.30pm Dr Linda King (IADT)
Politics, Pragmatism and Visualisation of National Identities: The Legacy of Aer Lingus Advertising.
This talk will examine the importance of the airline in disseminating concepts of national identity for both national and international audiences. The design output of both Abram Games and a generation of Dutch designers working in Dublin in the 1950s and 60s will be explored in this context.
Tuesday 15th December, 6.30pm Wendy Williams (NCAD)
Instruments of Mass Persuasion: War posters in the 1930s and 40s.
The poster became an increasingly eloquent means of engendering a proactive mindset during the Second World War. In this talk selected works, including those of Abram Games, are examined in terms of motivations, ideologies and responses.
Tuesday 5th January, 6.30pm Mary Ann Bolger (DIT)
Round towers, West Brits and the ‘Battery Hens of Moscow’: some issues in the ‘professionalisation’ of post-war Irish graphic design.
This paper will examine the generally overlooked influence of British models, including Abram Games, on the establishment of an Irish graphic design profession and the development of an indigenous design vocabulary. It will also examine the pivotal role that advertising designers – often maligned as apolitical, commercial jobbers – played in directing the course of modern Irish graphic design.
Harry Clarke Lecture Theatre
National College of Art and Design/Gallery
100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Tel +353-1-6364390
Places are limited, arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Thanks to illustrators Margaret-Ann Suggs and David McClelland for sending us their sketches from Offset 2009. Check them out…
Here’s illustrator Mario Sughi’s review of the Peepshow exhibition that took place in MonsterTruck Gallery recently. The x-rated exhibition included work by Tim Biskup, Tara McPherson, Gaetan Billault, Jon Burgerman, Airside, Serge Seidlitz, Micheal Gillette and many Irish artists and designers.
“Erotic art is not an easy subject at all. For the artist himself it is quite easy to abandon prudence and to find oneself in tricky dangerous waters. On the other hand play it too cautiously and it will be equally easy to fall into gross banality and mortal boredom…..”
Artist Dave McKean will be in Easons on O’Connell Street this evening from 6.30 signing copies of his great new book Crazy Hair (in association with Children’s Books Ireland and OFFSET.
Also, catch him talking at OFFSET this weekend if you managed to nab a ticket.
