Art Chantry
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Arthur S.W. Chantry II (born April 9, 1954 in Seattle) is a graphic designer often associated with the posters and album covers he did for bands from the Pacific Northwest, such as Nirvana, Hole and The Sonics. He is also notable for his work in logo design.
Chantry advocates a low-tech approach to design that is informed by the history of the field. His work has been exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum of Modern Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Smithsonian and the Louvre.
Chantry received a bachelor's degree from Western Washington University in 1978.
Born in Seattle in 1954 and reared there and in Tacoma, Wash., Mr. Chantry is largely self-taught. He returned to Seattle in the late 1970's, and in the early 80's became the art director of the Rocket, a monthly music magazine. He also emerged as a graphic designer known for quick turnarounds and innovative (and cheap) ideas about production.
Mr. Chantry is probably best known for expanding on the bristling low-tech aesthetic of punk music, in posters and album covers for bands like Nirvana, Hole and the Sonics, as well as lesser-known groups like the Cramps, the Lord High Fixers, Mono Men and Bert. These works reflect an omnivorous talent for the incisive recycling of vintage images, usually with a handmade look that Mr. Chantry calls roughed up. Basically, Mr. Chantry seems never to have met an image or a technique that he couldn't bend to his own or his client's advantage. If you don't happen to be steeped in the history of graphic design, punk rock or the Seattle underground -- or even if you are -- his gritty inventiveness gives this show the force of revelation. ROBERTA SMITH
[edit] External links
- Official page
- New York times review
- "American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art" — a documentary film featuring Art Chantry
- "Died Young Stayed Pretty" — a documentary film featuring Art Chantry
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