this saturday and sunday is the 7th annual book arts festival at mcba. lots of lovely handmade books, journals, prints and papers. perfect for stocking up on holiday presents!
Go see the Eero Saarinen exhibit – half of which is at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (free) the other half being at The Walker (free Thursday evenings and first Saturdays). Eero did a number of things you will recognize like the St. Louis Arch and TWA terminal in NYC but what I always enjoy most at these restrospective shows is the sketches. It is really amazing to see not only the different levels of skill but how they translate into the finished work.
This weekend the Minnesota State Fairgrounds plays host to the MidAmerica Vintage Motorcycle Auction. Get a look at these restored vintage hotties now cuz the link will probably die or get moved after this weekend. Sadly, I’ll be there with my camera, not my checkbook. The Norton above will be wet with my tears.
the poster offensive 4 opening is this friday (but you wouldn’t forget, would you?). 5 pm at the black dog coffee and wine bar in beautiful lowertown st. paul. good drinks, great food and posters promoting peace and democracy.
and if you’re headed out of town for the weekend, don’t fret: on october 3, there’s another opening reception as the show moves to the frank stone gallery in nordeast.
hope to see you friday!
one of my favorite places in minneapolis is mcba (minnesota center for book arts). their space is beautiful, the workshops are wonderful and their galleries are always filled with inspiring work.
right now, in collaboration with the university of st. thomas, mcba is hosting an excellent exhibit called “face the nation: how national identity shaped modern typeface design.” if you can’t make it over to mcba (or just can’t wait to know more), there’s a companion site that walks you through the exhibit.
if you’re at all into type, it’s super interesting and definitely worth checking out.
poster offensive 4 is coming! mark your calendars for the august 29 opening reception at the black dog coffee and wine bar in beautiful lowertown st. paul. good coffee, great food and posters promoting peace and democracy. on october 3, there’s another opening reception as the show moves to the frank stone gallery in nordeast.
the show will be up at the black dog from august 15 to september 15 and at frank stone from october 3 until october 12. special thanks to the fabulous people at spunk for organizing po4.
see you there!
sorry for the delay on the hong kong and china posts, but i have been plagued by bad technology and jet lag, neither of which left me very blogable.
at any rate, the first (of many) posts based on my trip is dedicated to the beijing summer games mascots (yes, that’s mascots, because everything is bigger in china!), called the friendllies. i think they are ridiculously cute and they were everywhere: on the subway, on buses, billboards, soda cups, candy wrappers, larger than life in parks… you get the idea.
i was a little curious about them (and what on earth they were because other than one being a panda and another being a flame, i was a little mystified at first). i learned that they were created by chinese illustrator han meilin to embody four of china’s popular animals (the fish, the panda, the tibetan antelope and the swallow) and the olympic flame, and that they are loaded with symbolism.
in their origins and headpieces, the five elements of nature (the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky) are rendered in a manner that reflects traditional chinese folk art and ornamentation. they each also have a rhyming two-syllable name (a traditional way of expressing affection for children in china): beibei (the fish), jingjing (the panda), huanhuan (the flame), yingying (the tibetan antelope) and nini (the swallow. when the first sylable of the names are put together (bei jing huan ying ni) they say “welcome to beijing.”