NewCityMovement

Rise Of The Airbrush

Overspray is the conclusive account of the rise of airbrush art, and of the equally bright and glossy Los Angeles culture alongside which it came to prominence in the 1970s. Inspired by surf graphics, psychedelia and the slick shine of Hollywood, a generation of young artists began to make every lip and palm tree glisten, and every record cover shine. Fueled by a combination of intense demand, sleepless nights and brutal competition, the four men at the center of L.A.’s airbrush art market–Charles E. White III, Peter Palombi, Dave Willardson and Peter Lloyd–embarked on careers encompassing work for Playboy, Levi’s, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and major studio films including American Graffiti and Tron.

Together, their work came to define the look of illustrative graphics for a generation of viewers. This book tells the story of these four artists for the first time through hundreds of images of the artists’ best and best-known work, unseen production roughs, documentary photographs and other ephemera.

Viewed now, their surreal, funny and utterly slick imagery seems all the more fantastic–combining technical precision with wild flights of imagination that bring to mind the work of some of today’s top artists. Essay by Mike Salisbury, acclaimed designer of everything from Disney logos to Jurassic Park ad campaigns to Sassy magazine.

Conceived, edited and designed by Norman Hathaway. Official site here. [Thanks Stewf]

The full list of "Stuff White People Like."

Our Mountain

Enjoy Steve Harrington's cosmic "Our Mountain" European art-show extravaganza. Then buy his new book!

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

A book and now a short film produced in part by Children of Men director Jonás Cuarón, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE by Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries. [Thanks Demian]

Fantastic Magazines

Printed on unassuming natural paper, in mostly black and white you'll find yourself reading FANTASTIC MAN magazine from cover to cover. Unlike the other glossy rags serving up metro men's fashion these days, FM transcends with a sophisticated blend of carefree editorial style, witty writing and stimulating interviews. All of which give the reader a sense of intimacy with the end result. Along with several articles on fragrance (which are nonexistent or rarely in depth elsewhere), you'll surely enjoy 'The Recommendations' section which presents small articles with headlines like "Contemporary Art Galleries are the Disco's of the 21st Century" and "The Fanny Pack is an Extraordinarily Practical Bag For Men." Brilliant.

Other Favorites Include:
Anthem
Arena Homme+
Butt
Cabinet
Dazed
Esopus
Eye
Monocle
Tokion
VMan

Black White & Read All Over

The City Library's Gala Celebration: Black and White and Read All Over. Is this Saturday Feb 10th. Don't miss what is sure to be a wonderful party including hors d'oeuvres, champagne, dessert, a silent auction and the music of The Wilson Project.

Tickets are limited and on sale now for $100 each in The Library Store at Library Square. Call 524-8238 to order by phone.

Main Library
8:00 p.m.-Midnight
200 East 400 South, SLC, UT

The Other Rocky

Salt Lake's ballsy Mayor Rocky Anderson is featured in The Nation magazine's January 1st 2007 issue. Read the article here. Go! Fight! Win!

TTSSS… Is The Sound Of A Can Of Spray Paint

Ttsss… is an important compilation that shows a specific stream of young artists - artists who predominantly come from an underprivileged social segment. Their social condition is, nonetheless, the ingredient that makes their symbolograms one of the most original urban phenomenons in Brazil in recent years. TTSSS… pixação, the vastest art, sao paulo, brazil [Thanks Chris]

Classic Covers

Designer Joe Kral's online collection of Penguin and Pelican book cover artwork here. [Via: CoolHunting]

Rise Of The Ogre

I don't go apeshit over Gorilllaz but it's hard to deny their conceptual genius. Rise of the Ogre is an autobiography about the virtual band Gorillaz, detailing the life-stories of the fictional band-members: Murdoc Niccals, 2D, Russel Hobbs and Noodle. Ostensibly written by the four band-members in collaboration with (actual) Gorillaz musician and official scribe Cass Browne, the book is over 300 pages long and it's extensively illistrated with new art by Jamie Hewlet. Apparently Damon Albarn (Gorillaz co-creator and musical director, also formerly of Blur) has a new band in the works called The Good The Bad And The Queen which you can preview them over tah-tha myphase.

I Like You

Listen to Amy Sedaris, Actress and Comedian and author of the new book, "I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence." (Via: NPR/OnPoint)

FriendsWithYou Have Powers!

Fusing art, design, illustration and toy making, Miami based FriendsWithYou are a leading example of a multi-disciplinary studio combining classical disciplines with sensational success. They are masters not only of character creation but beyond the characters themselves and into the worlds that they inhabit. Their universes are so elaborately designed that they entrance adults and children alike.

A book of a design by FriendsWithYou (FWY), "FriendsWithYou Have Powers!" will be released early in October. FWY is well known for producing their original dolls, also continuing activities in a variety of areas; participating in conferences, and working for interior design. This book presents the full scope of their projects and a wide range of scribbles, designs, artworks, characters and kids toys which have been created, for their first museum exhibition at the MOCA Miami, Florida during Art Basel Miami Beach. [Via: Die Gestalten]

Frank Rich Book One Week Away

From Publishers Weekly via Amazon -

This blistering j'accuse has vitriol to spare for George Bush—calling him a "spoiled brat" and "blowhard"—and his policies, but its main target is the PR machinery that promoted those policies to the American people. New York Times columnist Rich revisits nearly every Bush administration publicity gambit, including Iraqi WMD claims, Bush's "Mission Accomplished" triumph, the Swift-boating of John Kerry and the writing of fake prowar letters-to-the-editor from soldiers. He uncovers nothing new, but his meticulously researched recap-cum-debunking—complete with appended 80-page time line comparing administration spin to actual events—builds a comprehensive picture of a White House propaganda campaign to bamboozle the public, smear critics, camouflage policy disasters and win the 2002 and 2004 elections through trumped-up security anxieties. Along the way, he pillories a sycophantic media (Bob Woodward gets spanked hard), spineless Democrats and an infotainment culture that happily accommodates the Bush administration's erasure of the line between reality and fiction. Sometimes Rich's critique of Republican politics as cynical image-manipulation goes overboard, as in his "wag the dog" theory of the Iraq war as a Karl Rove electoral maneuver; more often, though, it's on target. The result is a caustic, hard-hitting indictment of the Bush administration, timed to make a splash in the upcoming election campaign. (Sept. 19)

Sexy Libraries

If information overload turns you on, then you'll enjoy these rich, sumptuous, photos of library interiors. It’s like porn for book nerds. [Via: TMN]

Bill Moyers On Faith & Reason

We at NCM would like to elect Bill Moyers for president of everything. In his new new seven-part series called "Faith & Reason" for PBS, (our forcefully underfunded public broadcasting service) Moyers interviews provocative authors including Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Mary Gordon, and Margaret Atwood and asks if religion and reason can peacefully coexist? They set about having a conversation, "but not the conversation in which people simply shriek at each other".

It appears they are streaming the interviews from the website after they air so take advantage of that if you miss the broadcasts. Visit PBS.org/moyers. (Photo: NYTimes)