Ink on Paper, 16”x12”
My grandparents, like many upper middle class suburbanites, owned quite a bit of mid-century furniture, I didn’t inherit any of it. Ink on Paper, 16”x12”
Black, Pink, Red, and Violet Ink on Paper, 12”x9”
Black, Blue, Orange, Violet, and Yellow Ink on Paper, 12”x9”
Black, Blue, Green, and Violet Ink on Paper, 9”x12”
This vacant Jetsons scene bears a famous saying from the Dada Movement. I’m not sure what Hannah Höch and the definitive 1960s cartoon vision of the future have in common, maybe not much, but probably a lot. Invest your money in Dada, invest your money in Hanna-Barbera. Also the space-age vision for the future of Modern design is cool, although we all still wait for our jetpacks. Multi-colored Ink on Paper, 9”x12”
Black and White Ink on Paper, 8.3”x11.25”
Black, Blue, Green, Red, Violet, and Yellow Ink on Paper,8.5”x11”
Black, Green, and Violet Ink on Paper, 9”x12”
Black Ink on Paper, 16”x12”
Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, and, Violet Ink on Paper, 12"x9"
Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, and, Violet Ink on Paper, 12"x9"
Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, and Violet Ink on Paper, 22"x30"
Black, Blue, and Violet Ink on Paper, 22"x30"
Black ink on paper, 12"x9"
Black, Green, Red, and Violet Ink on Paper, 7"x5"
With this President* we’ve grown numb to the constant scandals. I give proper credit for inspiration to the excellent AIDSGATE poster from Silence=Death. Black, Green, and Red Ink on Paper, 12”x9”.
Black and Green Ink on Paper, 7"x5"
Black and Violet Ink on Paper, 12”x9”
Ink on Postcard, 7”x5”
“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason”—Edward R. Murrow.
Under my skin is kind of a creepy song. Sinatra’s version is not nearly as good as Al Bowlly. Cole Porter wrote the song.
Why am I obsessed with Time Travel? Because we appreciate the present inadequately—we are too worried about the future. “Be Mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment.”
Bert and Ernie issue mob threats.
Dada and Mid-Century adventure stories—a perfect match!
Multi-Colored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
As a kid I really enjoyed re-runs of The Cisco Kid on the local Chicago UHF station. I never thought about why, but it must be that the accents reminded me of my Chilean father. But that makes it sound like he was an absent father, he wasn’t. Also Nintendo is incorrect—everything, saved or not, will be lost.
Multi-colored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
Whenever I can’t remember something it terrifies me. It terrifies me because Alzheimer’s Disease killed my father—the powerful fear that it’s already happening to me can be paralyzing. I think about it every hour of my waking life, and often during my dreams. This drawing is about how I couldn’t remember the word “flamingo.” I kept thinking of other aquatic birds that began with the letter “p,” and when I finally recalled, it still started with a “p” in my head, hence “pflamingo.” My brain couldn’t compute “flamingo.”
For those that enjoy art history referential art, this drawing could also be called Three Birds Looking Left.
Multicored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
The inspiration for this image is the iconic 1970s poster of a cat hanging on a rope with the quote “Hang in there Baby.” Only I wanted to make mine humorously threatening by using a kind of ransom note typography. The images of Mr Tastee, Don Draper, and a Ford Mustang clicked with me intuitively. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”.
There is an excellent movie from the 90s titled Zero Effect. Our hero, Daryl Zero, is a dysfunctional, genius private detective. Daryl is a Sam Spade for the Clinton Years—he’s another deeply flawed male archetype that we wish to be like…Even his name is cool…Daryl Zero. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”.
Every time I visit my father in the hospital I notice this convex mirror in the elevator. He has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a terrible fucking disease because it doesn’t get any better than this…it only gets worse. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 16”x12”
In the future we can all live like George Jetson. It’s funny how much of advertising and pop culture train us about how our lives will be perfect…eventually. And by “funny,” I mean they lie. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 16”x12”
Hawkeye Pierce and Don Draper, profoundly flawed icons, and despite those cavernous flaws they are admired. Because there are traits to admire—both overcome severe mental damage and trauma to excel at their crafts. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
While examining male role models from pop culture I am struck by how many of them are deeply flawed if not actually awful people: Indiana Jones and Don Draper are two from a long list. The woman in this drawing is a from a remake of the excellent Falco song “Rock Me Amadeus”—The past is never dead. It’s not even past. Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
One day, a few years ago, I was thinking about Salmon in a washing machine in a laundromat, and so while googling washing machines I came across this image, and the curiosity stuck with me—What happened here? Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”
I read a variety of books. I’m particularly fond of the Fletch detective novels. These text drawings of mine typically incorporate text from a wide range of sources with the kind of commercial advertising imagery that has become my life’s work after years of teaching the history of design.
Multicolored Ink on Paper, 12”x16”