All You Need is Love

(“The Alchemy of Love Songs”, John Shipman 2007, Acrylic on paper. 9″x8″ – Limited Edition print available at BlueFlip Art)

With influences and inspiration that range from the Beatles, George Harrison, Miniature Hindu paintings, his wife, and surrealist Spanish painter Remedios Varo, John Shipman says his main source of inspiration isn’t one specific thing, but more from an emotion -Love. “Nothing can put a more sincere smile on someones face than love, (in it’s many forms), and I cannot think of any other subject matter for my art that would be as fulfilling.”

For more than 15 years, Shipman’s visions have been placed in frames, on walls, in galleries and private collections, and from one end of this country to the other. His exhibitions have been spotted from the Carolinas to Massachusetts, and from PA to LA, and seemingly all points in between. Lately, he’s recently completed a project at the VisArts Center in Rockville, MD, called “Love Comes to Everyone“, for the Harriet Lesser curated Zapp! show, and is currently working on new mural projects in Nashville and Delaware.

So why has he been so successful? Look at the work. At the heart of his passion and craft, is the whimsical and beautiful nature of the subject. His treatment for each project evokes thought, creativity, and fun. I really dig this guy’s work, and while the formal website is a work in progress, check out the flickr page, and keep your schedule open for February. In 2008, John is co-curating a show entitled “Sweet: The Graphic Beauty of the Contemporary Rock Poster.” at UMD, in College Park. and is also setting up the Sweet Booth, in which the artists themselves are selling some of the incredible art/rock posters, in conjunction with the show. and yes, it’s 3+ months away, but I just wanted to put it on your radars, because it, like the creative scene in DC, is not just coming, but is already here, and is everyday preparing to take off. -kk

{Sweet. The Art Gallery presents
the graphic beauty of the
contemporary rock poster.
The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland
February 6 – April 5, 2008

Opening reception Wednesday, February 6, 2008 5-7 PM}

Dirty Pictures Posters &C.

If anyone has any connections to Tom Waits, The Beach Boys, or PT Barnum, please forward your information to Anthony Dihle. His great style of silkscreen printing artwork awaits…

For a few years now, Dihle has taken his side project of silkscreen printing and made it into a wonderful little 2nd career. Sure, like all of us artists, he also has a “real” job, working for a architecture firm in Bethesda, MD, but his prints and collaborations with local and national recording artists are beautiful, stylized works of art, unto themselves. Influenced by but not limited to, RISD, old nintendo, toaster design, science, people, music, and “Fort Thunder”, in Providence, Dihle has made posters for such local artists as Alec Gross, The Bonapartes, and Greenland, and has also lent his talents to national bands such as The Shins and more. And he does it for fun! Claiming that he probably wouldn’t want to do it full time, as it is such a joy to him, (and citing the ‘ice cream taster job-arguement’) he says that he gets a sense of satisfaction out of working with the artists and other creative people to come up with a concept, and he would like to work more with them. And why not? His prints are exquisite works of art alone, and they bring together a complete picture of creation when paired with the singer or the song. Anthony is just another in a growing list of tremendously talented people living and working here in DC. For more on Anthony Dihle and his company see the optional excerpt.

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Ok, so here’s the deal. That top part is the “real” background. This bottom part, is my suck-up-ramblings of what this guy does… Ok, whenever I’ve worked with a recording artist, or with a client on a photoshoot, I tend to cater to their whims and needs and come up with a concept that suits the needs of all parties. I am not sure how Anthony does it, but the stuff that this guy is printing is the top of the charts. (God, that was a horrible play on words) He’s making these concert posters that evoke the same kind of “total experience” feeling that used to be associated with concerts, and making it his own. They have this sort-of nouveau-pop-post-modern feel to them though, in the way that the fonts are selected, colours are chosen, and the layout is cast. This is why I was cooing over them in the upper paragraph. They’re like mini-Warholian prints/concert posters, without being too pretentious or upper crusty-artsy. Personally, I feel that it’s people like Anthony, who are going to help bring DC in the next 10-15 years, to the forefront of the arts and creative culture world. So there. -kk