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American Illustration in Buenos Aires

By    Thursday October 4, 2007

You can't go to school for illustration in Argentina, but you can go to Universidad de Palermo (UP) in Buenos Aires this month and check out the American Illustration 25th Anniversary Timeline Exhibition.

I'm from Argentina, and I'm all too aware of how little access people there have to the world of illustrated magazines, ad campaigns, graphic design that exists here in North America - not to mention the extraordinary visual arts schools, with educators like Milton Glaser, Steve Heller, and Tom Woodruff. That's why I moved to New York eight years ago: to study illustration at the School of Visual Arts. And last year, I was invited to teach an intense illustration course at UP; that's when I made the connections for bringing the AI-25 show to BA. It's great that they are reaching out to us to see what we do and how we do it, in order to develop a program there for illustration as a separate discipline.

Universidad de Palermo is the top visual arts school in Argentina, and I'd say the one with the best marketing department in South America. You see the name and logo in ads all over the city, like wallpaper! They're known for their diverse and innovative programs, and their dynamic approach to change in the contemporary world.


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The artists, in date order, from 1982 to 2006: Seymour Chwast, Sue Coe, R.O. Blechman & Nicholas Blechman, Vivienne Flesher & Ward Schumaker, Henrik Drescher, Anita Kunz, Filip Pagowski, Ruth Marten, Matt Mahurin, Steven Guarnaccia, Jordin Isip, Frances Jetter, Jeffrey Fisher, Juliette Borda, Jason Holley, Karen Barbour, Mark Ulriksen, Roberta Parada, Steve Brodner, Guy Billout, Katherine Streeter, Tomer Hanuka, Saelee Oh & Souther Salazar, John Hendrix, Nathan Fox

Mark Heflin, the director of American Illustration, is now at UP to present the show, which is opening tonight at the Fotogaleria, located in the Palermo neighborhood of BA. The event has received great press and word of mouth, so the opening will no doubt be a huge success. I'm sorry I won't be there as well, but deadlines kept me here in New York!


This week at UP, a series of talks by Mark Heflin is scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition. All events are free and open to the public.
Introduction:
Today, October 4 at 6:00 pm, Jean Jaures 932, auditorium
Opening Reception: Today at 7:00 pm, Jean Jaures 932
Seminar: Friday, October 5 at 7:00 pm, Jean Jaures 932, auditorium
Seminar: Monday, October 8 7:00 pm, Mario Bravo 1050, auditorium

I would also like to mention that this presentation was sponsored De Ferrari, one of the top printing concerns in BA, which produced all the prints for the show.

Editor's note: American Illustration, the leading juried annual and advocate of contemporary illustration in North America and the world, celebrated its 25th anniversary last November with a special edition that includes a circular jacket, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, and an interpretive timeline of the last 25 years, illustrated by 25 of today's top artists. Fernanda Cohen is a New York-based illustrator who arranged for the Universidad de Palermo presentation of the AI 25th Anniversary Timeline Exhibition and all of the events associated with the show.


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