ELVIA PERRIN

Equal parts obtrusive and delicate, Elvia's shapes in her printmaking evoke an ethereal, dreamlike (or nightmarish?) quality. 

The big black shapes are almost anatomical, and are seemingly emboldened when layered on top of more delicate patterns.

I'm sort of in love with them and might need one for my apartment. Or five.

Check out her Etsy page here.

All photos courtesy of the artist.

Two Seated Women, 1938 (Printed 1961)Pablo Picasso

Etching

Printed by Jacques Frélaut

Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris

Head of a Woman, 1933 (printed 1961), Pablo Picasso

Drypoint

Printed by Jacques Frélaut

Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris

PICASSO @ THE MET

I caught this exhibit on its last day (to be more specific, its last hour!) on Sunday.

Though my visit was super rushed and the gallery was ridiculously crowded, the top portrait caught my eye. The colors are so luscious in person, I had to resist the urge to touch it. Inspired by Lucas Cranach II's Portrait of a Woman (1564), Picasso's version just makes me smile. I absolutely fell in love with it.

Read more about the show here.

You And Me The Royal We's "Places in America" print....

How Paula Scher of them.

I love it...the colors, the woodgrain, the handwritten state names, the quirkiness of it all.

Buy one here (and get me one too, while you're at it).

(click to enlarge)

SIDEWALK FINDINGS: 

PARIS EDITION

I realized that I haven't written a Sidewalk Findings post in quite some time. I'm sure it's due to the fact that NYC has transformed into a frozen tundra, and I simply haven't had it in me to saunter the streets, looking for inspiration.

So, I had to dig deep into my memory (and photo archives) to uncover this image that was beginning to fade from memory.

I found the above poster plastered on the side of a building in a narrow Paris street back in 2005. If you click to enlarge the image, you'll find that that there are countless tiny illustrations that make up the portrait. Skulls and wine bottles, cottages and stars, wild birds and forests....

Quite simply and quietly, it's beautiful. 

Here in the states, its hard to come by a poster that isn't an advertisement for a movie, an upcoming album release, a new condominium building...something.

That's why I love this. Art for art's sake (or l'art pour l'art). 

What a refreshing idea.

(click to enlarge)

(detail)

(detail)

PETER CRNOKRAK

Information design + data analysis = snoozefest.

Meet the exception to the rule.

The above graphic maps the 85+ recorded covers of 1979's Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.

The covers are mapped relative to the original recordings by the band (i.e. time since original recording, artist, release name, record 

label, etc.)

Beyond all that, the mass of lines and dots looks super cool.

Bloody clever, huh?

See more from the London-based designer here.

TADANORI YOKOO

I first discovered Tadanori's work about 7 years ago, and was recently reminded of how INCREDIBLY powerful his work is. I stumbled upon the image at the very top of this post, in a narrow, dark hallway at PS1. This poster totally deserves better placement (shame on you PS1!). In any case, I found myself enraptured, once again, by his lovely, lovely work. The combination of photographic elements, illustration, sumptuous colors, play on scale and the humorous, thought-provoking stories that his compositions seem to tell...all result in an complete and utter inability to look away. 

I can literally stare at a poster for an hour, take a break and return only to find an element that I hadn't noticed the first time around. It's like a crazy psychedelic easter egg hunt.

See more from Yokoo here. I promise, promise, promise you'll fall in love with him too.

And click here for some of his music and film posters....yum! I'm CRRRRRRAAAAZZZY over that Beatles Star Club one! (Thanks Pink Tentacle!)

(detail)

00one

i love this, i love this, i love this...

Nick Schmitz, aka 00one (Double Zero One? Zero Zero One?) has been recognized by the Type Directors Club, has received numerous American Graphic Design Awards AND an Art Directors Club of New Jersey Award.

( "Who knew that Jersey had an Art Directors Club?",

asks the Jersey girl...)

All that to say, he's a pretty sick designer.

See more of his work here.

JUST MY TYPE

"Keep It Real" by Brock Davis

"A" by Douglas Wilson

Self-promo poster by Exergian

Franz Kafka book cover by Daniel Gil

FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES + CHRISTOPHER WOOL

Untitled, 1993

Offset Print

Two days ago, NYC was a rainy mess, and on this rainy, messy day, I decided to take a field trip to Queens to visit PS1. 

For those who haven't been there, PS1 is an old public school turned exhibition space. The interior itself is worth a visit. It's quite a throwback, with its narrow staircases and long hallways with classroom doors that open into converted galleries. 

I found this piece on the top floor. Although there's only one poster remaining, there was once a stack, and viewers were invited to take one (or more). Thus, the stack would diminish and change as the viewer then became an active participant in the art piece.

The message is quite striking, once you get through it. I'm unsure as to what the story is behind it, but I'm beyond intrigued.

Read more about Felix here.

Read more about Christopher here. (By the way, I can't tell you how beautiful I think this is.)

ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG + 

SUSAN WEIL

Untitled (Sue), 1950

Sure, they were married, but they also collaborated to make the above monoprint. The image was created by exposing blueprint paper to a sun lamp, and then fixing the image by applying a peroxide solution.

I can't tell you how much I am in love with this image. The details of the skirt (the scalloped hem, the faint vertical lines) are breathtaking. The way she raises her shoulders up to her ears makes the image take on a sense of urgency. The arrangement of her hands, though crossed at the wrists, seems to beckon.

It's immensely haunting.