Visuals

alternative Movie Posters: Film Art From the underground

As much as a well-designed book can lead you to buy it a well-designed movie poster can make you want go to see the movie. Fortunately the era of bland studio-produced posters has been supplanted by a new crop of illustrators and artists. alternative Movie Posters: Film Art From The underground by Matthew Chojnacki brings us the first comprehensive look at this blossoming genre with 200 posters from over 100 artists.  The book also features commentary from each artist that includes questions regarding influences, their preferred medium, and the impetus behind each poster. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Zoltron Thse...

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In The Stacks: Rockwell Kent at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art

Portrait by Carl Van Vechten For this installment of In The Stacks we sample a part of the extensive archive of Rockwell Kent's papers that reside at the Smithsonian. Kent traveled widely and wrote, painted and drew about his experiences. From Alaska to Greenland to Moscow, Kent and his family immersed themselves in the cultures they visited with each trip providing Kent a plethora of artistic fodder. In 1918 it was a trip to Alaska with his son that brought us the memoir Wilderness which the The New Statesman called "easily the most remarkable book to come out of America since Leaves of Grass was published."...

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A Heavyweight For Illiteracy

Wladimir Klitschko is the World Heavyweight Champion. He currently holds 4 different championship belts and is pretty much considered the undisputed king of the ring. His latest fight might be his toughest yet - illiteracy;  the global scourge that effects over 250 million children who do not have access to education. The project is called Klitschko vs. Illiteracy and it is the brainchild of the Klitschko Brothers Foundation in cooperation with the German charity organization BILD hilft e.V. Ein Herz für Kinder. For the project Klitschko dipped his gloved hands in blue paint and punched the 26 letters of the alphabet individually on canvas. Why blue? Because "blue is the ink of writing"...

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