new gigs on the block

by Art Chantry ( art@artchantry.com)

back in (i think) 2002, a friend got sent me an email informing me that somebody was on this new website (called ‘gigposters.’ a site dedicated to the rock poster)), saying all sorts of nasty things and claiming to be me. i was curious, so i checked it out. what i found was not just ONE ‘art chantry” saying all sorts of snotty things, but a total of FOUR a ‘art chantrys” raising cain. i was hooked!

i jumped in as yet another ‘anonymous’ art chantry and went to war. eventually i scared off all the pretenders and took the throne as the ‘real’ art chantry. for the next 5+ years, i took on all attackers until i finally shot myself in the foot one too many times. the mighty die hard, i’ll tell ya!

but, a strange thing happened. during that period of time, i got to witness the rebirth of the rock poster into a viable american specialty and the (even more important) the rebirth of a viable venue for american illustration. gigposters literally saved an entire generation of american illustration from extinction. instead of a few hundred ‘poster artists’ world wide communicating among their peers, it bloated into literally thousands of wannabes, collectors, fans and old timers all excitedly re-inventing the craft, the business, the economics and the history of rock posters. in fact, it even managed to change the nomenclature to the term “Gigposter.’ it was amazing and cool.

and at times, frustrating. what was once my private aesthetic world was now profitable pop culture. old concert advertisements suddenly became collectible art prints created for sale on an open bloated deafening market of thousands. you didn’t even have to have ‘danced’ (actually posted the ads) before you could sell them via subscription models to collectors and fans as swag. an old poster i had long ago designed, now gathering dust in my portfolio, i could once sell for hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars. now, in a flooded market where hand made 32-color silkscreen rock posters of your favorite band fetched only $40, i couldn’t give my stuff away. so much for a retirement fund. oh well.

but, the other thing that was very cool, was being privileged to watch this happen at close range. i watched old forgotten loser poster artists find new careers among the new fan base. i watched long standing creatives (and wonderful people i long admired) enjoy a renaissance in their lives, exploding in international following and acclaim. and best of all, i got to watch utter unknown little nobodies decide to start “making gigposters, too” and become international bohemian artist superstars – sometimes with startling suddeness.

when i first encountered ‘seripop’ (short for ‘serigraphie populaire’), they were a couple of kids. literally, kids. they consisted of chloe and yannick. they lived in montreal and chloe had a short but extensive career as an extremely provocative performance artist. the quiet yannick, on the other hand, was a “draw-er” DELUXE (they also performed in a rock band together). they got on gigposters (initially as fan/geeks) and started chatting with other poster makers. they built some really crude silkscreen equipment and asked how to do it. the advice they got was all across the spectrum, from excellent to unbelievably bad. and they started making posters for their band’s gigs.

keep in mind, that they came from montreal. there has existed, for decades, a rather special art scene in that city. to begin with, the city is in the hub of french canada. the cultural dialog in that region of the continent is like no other. the styles the artists of montreal have developed in their creative work is unique – and ignored. the result is a vast contingent of really wonderful stylized art that has been shoved aside because it’s “french” or something. i just wanted to point out that seripop were not operating in a vacuum, they were surround by brilliant influences.

from the very beginning, seripop began creating posters for their ‘gigs’ that looked like nobody else (at least in america.) the closest art scene in the states you could even begin to compare them to was the ‘fort thunder’ collective in providence, rhode island. FT exploded into existence, flared brightly and died out in a very brief span of time, leaving behind amazing primitive sophisticated poster work and other sparse documentation. seripop, on the other hand, is still going strong.

when i first met them, they were ignorant weirdo kids. eager beavers. willing to try anything and push to the max. there was no turf they felt uncomfortable explor

maybe it was their performance history, maybe it was their personal spirits. but, they always seem to avidly pursue a design/visual language that seemed alien and extremely ‘out there’ (for lack of a better word). the results are hard to describe. they mix collage and drawings, found imagery and printing mishaps, bright colors and incompetent printing, sophistication with happenstance. the posters are stunning.

this little promo post card is from their earlier days, their style not fully cemented together yet. it gives a rather florid view of what the ‘typical’ seripop piece could be. it’s a silkscreened postcard to simply use as a promo/message delivery system. it’s beautiful. and mad.

since i first encountered them as lost little kids hanging around gigposters to their current status as international underground superstars (recent exhibits/performances in france and europe, commissions for covers and posters and the like for huge rock bands and corporations and arts groups) it’s been a privilege to witness their growth and expanding fame. but, they’ll always be (at least in my mind) those little kid sister/brother i met hanging out on gigposters.

ADDENDUM:

AC:the idea that these things are some sort of ‘fine art’ art print that isn’t sold until the event as a stupid souvenir collector item, well, that makes me gag.

all of my posters (well until recently when the paradigm shifted) were always real working posters hung on telephone poles. that’s why they’re so rare – they all got used up. i’m the only source in the world that has a serious stash of my work for sale (if ever) in mint condition. even with that, i only saved a dozen or so for portfolio purposes and never entire runs of hundreds like the current crop of ‘arteests’.

so, i have basic fundamental issues with the approach taken. it’s a well known conflict on gigposters. it’s been attacked and discussed and institutionalized in a thousand ways there. ask around.. many of those guy really hate me (heh heh.) i’m so contrary to their little dreams of glory.

i originally wanted to be an archaeologist (duh). so, the idea of making souvenirs instead of actual “danced” cultural artifacts is against my grain….

…back in the late 90′s twice major collectors came to me and wanted to buy one copy of everything i had done. the stack was huge – thousands of posters. i got paid 10 grand to do it – it worked out to something like a few bucks apiece. not a very good deal for me when i can get as much as $1500 for a single poster. but, now my work is well represented in a couple of major collections of merit. so, it was easy to do.

another time (while living in st. louis) i a was approached by a local “museum” (one whacked out museum called “the city museum.” a national treasure. a must see place) to do a show of my poster work. the room they gave me was huge! so,i decided to take one copy of every poster i’ve ever done (i spared a few posters that i’m only down to a single copy) and thumbtacked(!) them to the walls. i literally wallpapered the place from floor to ceiling with posters. and these walls were hundreds, maybe thousands of square feet.

thank god that sean tetjeratchi (craphound) lived next door at the time and volunteered to help out. my fingertips were sore for weeks afterward.

the room was literally dizzying!…

… at the time, i really thought my ‘career’ was tottaly over and that i was going to fade away into dust in the middle of nowhere, totally forgotten, etc. so, the idea that i needed to document or preserve was one that i had abandoned. no joke.

the funny part is that this was a year or so after the book about my stuff came out. my experience with publicity is that whenever i personally get a lot of attention in the media (like a book or an article in a design journal, etc.) it really kills my work load. others don’t seem to experience this phenomenon, but it hits me in spades.

back in 1988, when i had an article in CA, i didn’t work for nearly 9 months. and work only trickled back after that. it took years of effort to rebuild my “career.” that “can’t surf” book knocked me flat for several years. i was totally gone, out of work, dying. it was awful. even now, i haven’t fully recovered from the impact of that book.

why? dunno. like i said, others have exactly the opposite experience. but, it’s not me exclusively – right before that book came out several well know designers called me to warn me that the ‘dead zone’ happened to them and to expect it. so, at least i was sorta prepared. but, for me, it’s always a killer blow.

my best interpretation is that my work and style and my thinking promotes a classic DIY approach to graphic design that looks like a lot of fun to do. so, people see my work and, instead of frantically trying to hire me to do some work, they’re all excited to give it a try themselves. that’s my best explanation. my work inspires people to NOT hire me. i love that idea, at least….