Cover and inside images from the rare 1965 Celanese Celcon brochure that Syd Mead designed – very much referencing that Atomic look of the era but with plenty of the signature Mead style already present. I don’t have a copy of this and forget where I found these images on the web but I believe these were the bulk of the content Mead made for it. UPDATE: original images taken by Hiroshi Matsui, check out his amazing collection @sydmode on Instagram.
Very pleased to be a part of EPOD‘s first solo show after being a fan of his work for years.
Open @bsmtspace in Dalston on March 10th and running until the 27th.
I’ll be creating a live soundtrack during the private view 6-9pm on the 10th using my Quadraphon turntable, Ninja Tune Zen Delay and a brand new mixer I can’t reveal yet…
I’ve been making some further adjustments to the deck and hope to have them ready by March 10th
RSVP to [email protected] for entry on the 10th
Love these by Michael Kreiser – more on his Instagram including loads more contemporary rap artists.
I’ve been doing some research for a current project and found the excellent website The Art of Diving along the way which provided all sorts of treats. I pulled a few choice examples of 70’s book art while I was there but give the site a visit as there is years worth to navigate.
‘Poster From The Past’ – #2 in the Neon Rose series by the legendary Victor Moscoso – plus original artwork below. 55 years ago today.
Doing this next week: Wednesday at The Gun in Hackney with old friend Mira Calix
Boris Tellegen – A PLAY THING
27 nov – 19 dec. Opening 26 november
Encore Alice, 91 Rue de Flandre, Brussels
https://alicebxl.com/exhibitions/a-play-thing
Marc Oosting & Boris Tellegen – Copy
20 nov – 15 jan. Opening zaterdag 20 november 15:00 – 18:00
Gallerie Vriend van Bavink, Geldersekade 34
https://www.vanbavinkgallery.com/exhibitions
In other Delta news, Boris and I have granted the Tasmanian wine maker Dr Edge the rights to use our cover image for DJ Vadim‘s ‘USSR Life From The Other Side’ on a range of wine bottles. The good doctor has done several collaborations with Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja already and you can find these wines here.
My copy of Matt King and James Edward Clark‘s ‘Tales To Enlighten’ arrived from the US this week (for more context see here). I’m lost for words at how good this is, comic of 2021 for me for sure – and yes I am biased, but after the years this has been in production they’ve pulled it off and then some. The story is insane (definitely NSFW), the pin up gallery is huge and the quality off the scale. Matt King may be more familiar to Solid Steel fans as King Megatrip who made several guest mixes for the show and was one of the biggest and earliest collectors of tapes from it.
The attention to detail with fake ads, in-jokes and other myth-enhancing material is spot on and the print quality, superb. This is a huge book, 300+ pages and I look forward to diving right in after reading an early PDF copy last year. It has the spirit of underground comix but with the next few decades of comics knowledge thrown in and some serious art chops. I’m also thrilled to have a couple of spots in the book including a genuine endorsement on the back cover (unbeknownst to me, cribbed from an email to Matt after I’d seen the PDF).
The mixtape cover of religious music to help the Kickstarter along (they didn’t need it, it got funded in six hours!) is also featured in the back. I’ve uploaded the mix to my Mixcloud so it’s easier to find.
I’m so pleased for the whole crew after hearing about it for literally years and being teased to the point where I was going, ‘just put the damn thing out!’. There’s a volume 2 in the works too…
There’s a free Savage Pencil exhibition at Orbital Space for the month of September, that being the new name for Orbital Comics on 8 Great Newport Street, Covent Garden. There are T-shirts and prints for sale as well as prices on most of the artwork although they’re not cheap. It’s great to see the originals to the Nothing Short of Total War compilation on Blast First as well as several others and Edwin’s visual bite hasn’t dimmed in the last 40 years.
In the front of the shop there’s also a great display of Graham Humphreys‘ work for film and books, mainly dealing with horror or B movie content. It’s great to see the originals and most are for sale although some have already been taken.
Thanks to universalcollage for alerting me to these amazing tape reel boxes, once belonging to Louis Armstrong, now archived in an online museum on his website. There are hundreds of these plus even more pieces of ephemera to see, it looks like someone has gone through every piece of music-related item he ever owned and photographed it with notes for the site.
Thanks to universalcollage for alerting me to these amazing tape reel boxes, once belonging to Louis Armstrong, now archived in an online museum on his website. There are hundreds of these plus even more pieces of ephemera to see, it looks like someone has gone through every piece of music-related item he ever owned and photographed it with notes for the site. Any one of these could be a record cover, sometimes both sides of the boxes are collaged and the ageing sellotape just adds to their appeal for me.
More pages from the Wisconsin Historical Society G.I. Press Collection of The East Village Other papers I came across, all scanned in high res, (much higher than here). As the 60s heading to a close The Other started featuring a selection of the underground cartoonists of the day, namely Robert Crumb, Vaughn Bodé, Susan Morris, Spain Rodriguez, Kim Dietch and Charles Francis Winans. As well as striking covers, several artists did comic strip ads for Douglas Records and a lot of this art – save for some of the Crumb works – I’ve never seen reprinted elsewhere before.
Perusing the Wisconsin Historical Society G.I. Press Collection I came across a stash of East Village Other papers, all scanned in high res, (much higher than here) and started going through them. Here’s a selection of things that caught my eye from the covers and back pages.
Possibly Susan Morris‘ work above?
Is that an early Spain Rodriguez inking the figure above? The clouds don’t look like his work but the darker ink work does
I was sent a link to the Wisconsin Historical Society G.I. Press Collection online which is a treasure trove of alternative and free press publications surrounding the US military 1964-1977. One of the best finds was a monthly paper called the Grunt Free Press, full of counterculture news and graphics from the hippy years including colour double page spread posters in the psychedelic style. Here are some of my favourite details.
Highlights from unique, hand-stencilled, spray painted book by Savant, 2020 – 1 of 1
Ringbound, 19x19cm, 80 pages.
For more of his art visit https://savantstreetart.bigcartel.com/
Follow him on Instagram
Amazing Rick Griffin billboard poster for a Mama Cass gig that I found online at the excellent Far Out Company website.
One of my absolute favourite British comic artists is Kevin O’Neill, co-creator of characters like Ro-busters, A.B.C Warriors, Nemesis The Warlock, Metalzoic, Marshal Law and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In this 2 part epic 4.5 hr podcast he tells of his time before, during and after 2000AD in what must be one of his most in depth interviews.
(images and text adapted from the pbagalleries website)
A complete set of original 12 Zodiac Astrology Star Sign Posters, commissioned by Jack Leahy (“Funky Jack”), of San Francisco’s Funky Features, in 1967. Funky Features was originally a home recording studio in an Edwardian house that quickly became a popular recording location for Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cold Blood, Steve Miller, and others. Leahy also went on to do artwork for a number of motion pictures, airbrushing the Starship Enterprise for the first Star Trek film. Each poster is by a different artist, uniquely capturing the heyday of San Francisco’s counterculture. Artists include Dick Moore, Tommy Dixon, Lee and Shirley Goddard, Robert McClay, Fred Adams, Primo Angel, Jim Blashfield, and others. Complete sets of all 12 posters are extremely rare, especially in this condition.
‘Xensation’
Wading through a load of CDRs for something else I found these five images, not sure who did them or how I even came to be in possession of them but I really like them. I’m guessing they date from around 2000 or later as they include the ‘x’ as ‘z’ in titles. Although i’m not sure they totally fit the Ninja style, if they ever did a set of greeting cards these would be the illustrations.
‘Xencounter’
‘Xendeleyev’
“Xenvy’
‘Xensual’
The Montana paint company have started a podcast, interviewing artists about their careers and work, first up is Kid Acne and it’s a fascinating look into not just graffiti art but also screen printing, paste ups, the art school system and more.
Listen here https://www.mtn-world.com/en/blog/2021/01/12/mtn-limited-edition-podcast-kid-acne/
