David Gilhooly

Collage, Assemblage Cardstock Painting David Gilhooly California Funk Surrealism

2012

Ivan Chermayeff (1932-2017): Butterfly Mouth Mixed media collage, 2002, hand signed 'Ivan Chermayeff' and dated lower right, titled lower left. Bears label from David Findlay Jr. Gallery, NY. 22 1/2 x 15 in. (sheet), 25 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. (frame). Provenance: The estate of the artist. Ivan Chermayeff born London, United Kingdom, 1932 Chermayeff was one of the greatest American graphic designers, the son of the Russian born, British architect Serge Chermayeff. Ivan Chermayeff Graduated from the Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts in 1950. He studied at Harvard until 1952, and the Institute of Design (New Bauhaus) until 1954. Graduated from the Yale School of Arts and Architecture in 1955 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. The same year he did a short apprenticeship with Alvin Lustig—a pioneer of American graphic design—and then moved on to CBS as Assistant Art Director in record cover design. In 1956 he co-founded Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar Associate, with Robert Brownjohn and his former schoolmate Tom Geismar. In 1959 Brownjohn left and the studio changed to Chermayeff & Geismar Inc. It soon became one of the best-known design firms worldwide. The firm produced over six-hundred marks, and they were among the very first to develop an abstract trademark (Chase Bank, 1960), still in use today. In 1964 they designed the outstanding corporate identity of Mobil Oil, that is one of the most recognizable identities ever. From its foundation, the studio served major companies including Giorgio Armani, Barneys, Hearst, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), National Geographic, NBC (National Broadcasting Company), PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), Rockefeller, and others. Recently, Serge Haviv joined as a new partner and the firm changed to Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. Besides his design profession, Chermayeff is a talented illustrator artist and collagist. Many graphic pieces he made show a perfect balance of rational logics with imagination, featuring both abstract geometric shapes and figurative images. His collage works require a same sense of witty assemblage, where gathered information, like scraps of paper, stamps, and Polaroid photograph pictures combine as fragmented clues to a greater message. The Surrealist collages often take the shape of people, whose facial features are born of scraps and daily ephemera. They are amusing and infinitely thought-provoking; as Chermayeff has said, “Collages make it possible for everything to be something else.” Board overseers at Parsons School of Design and trustee at New School University from 1988 to 2002. Visiting professor at Cooper Union, University of California, and Kansas City Art Institute. He started making collages at the age of 17 to overcome his fear of not being able to draw. They are mostly made from day-to-day ephemera: envelopes, stamps, cigarette packs, train tickets, strips of coloured paper, found images, stones from the beach or squashed rusty cans. Inspired by Surrealism and organised by the artist’s hand and complemented with strong lines, they make faces, figures, fragmented narratives. Like all great designs, they evoke surprise and the pleasure of recognition. As he put it: “Design is all about seeing and making connections which are not so obvious.”President of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) from 1963 to 1966. Trustee of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) from 1965 to 1986. Member of the board of directors of IDCA (International Design Conference in Aspen) from 1968 to 1999. Board Director at Municipal Art Society of New York in 1972-76. Member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) since 1978. Board Director at Smithsonian Institution from 1988 to 1996. He was elected to the Hall of Fame of ADC New York (Art Directors Club) in 1982. Trustee of the Archives of America Art in 1987-90. Royal Designer for Industry since 1992. He was awarded numerous prizes including the Industrial Art Medal from AIA (American Institute of Architects) in 1967, the Philadelphia College of Art Gold Medal in 1971, AIGA Gold Medal (American Institute of Graphic Arts) in 1979, the President’s Fellow Award from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1981, the First International Design Award from Japan Design Foundation in 1983, the Yale Arts Medal in 1985, the Distinguished Service Award from New School University in 1999, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal in 2002, the Tokyo Type Directors Club Award in 2004, and the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2014. He also received a honorary doctorate in law from the Portland School of Art in 1981, and two honorary doctorates in fine arts from the Philadelphia University of Arts and the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington in 1991. Along with Seymour Chwast, Sid Chafetz, Saul Bass, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Ikko Tanaka...

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