The final monthly ACHOF News Summary and Preview of the year was posted today - I've just published the first part of the latest ACHOF monthly news summary, covering all of the news, interviews, etc., that took place during the past month (December, 2017), as well as several previews of items of interest taking place in the coming month of January, 2018.
Shortlink - https://wp.me/p15kTT-wv
I published this a couple of days earlier than usual so that a) you could enjoy going through the 7500+ words at a leisurely pace and b) I could start my New Year’s holiday celebrations a few days early. Quite frankly, there was just so much going on around the world that I found would be of interest to my readers, and with all of the distractions that take place at the end of each year – what to do for New Years, do we stay in or go out, where the heck did I put that bottle of Macallan’s scotch, etc. – I just wanted to stay focused long enough to assemble, edit and publish this article before my eyes melted out of their sockets and ruined my keyboard.
I’m feeling quite certain that this month’s summary has lots of interesting things for everyone, whether you’re a fan of interviews, artist profiles, info on new works for sale or auction or just the many fascinating things that took place involving the people that make your favorite album art. As always, you’ll be enthralled with the variety of stories you’ll find featuring the latest news about the artists, musical acts, designers, photographers, galleries, curators and publishers who support and promote the works produced by record art designers all over the world sure to be of interest. You’ll find news about Exhibitions past and present that include shows featuring the talents of photographers Jay Blakesberg and David Redfern (along with my own shots taken at the Rolling Stones’ Exhibitionism show here in Chicago) along with several new group shows both here and in Europe (not forgetting the exhibits that are up in Europe in support of the Best Art Vinyl award show). New shows in San Francisco and the U.K. will bring new collections to fans in the area, while aspiring/working artists still have the chance to send in their entries for an upcoming show here in the Chicago area in which I, Mike G., will be one of the judges (how exciting!).
After digesting the news about these shows, you’ll move on to the summary of interviews with: collage artist/illustrator Lou Beach; art gallery owner Jim Hartley (who provides the details of his 30+ year odyssey in the rock art world); designers Spencer Drate, Milton Glaser, Aaron Draplin and Lawrence Azerrad (who’s up for a Grammy this year for the Voyager Golden Record package); photographer Mark Weiss (who has launched a gallery that has a strong charitable component) and illustrators Stefan Glerum and Ken Coleman. Section 3 brings you the news of the success of designer Vaughan Oliver’s recent Kickstarter project (I am completely jealous, of course) to fund the publication of a 2-book career retrospective along with details of what did/did not sell at the recent Entertainment Memorabilia auction at Bonham’s, while Section 4 includes an intro to a book published by two university professors about Mid-Century American album covers. To top it all off, you’ll complete your journey through this month’s review in Section 5, which this month contains more articles than even Google can retrieve (am I exaggerating? You be the judge) on the talented people who continue to impress us with their ongoing efforts in the album cover design, photography, production and product licensing areas. Believe it or not, there are articles that include references to both Star Wars and kittens, as well as some “Best and Worst of 2017” information, so Pop Culture fans will certainly find themselves better off for their time and attention.
As always, I just want to remind you all that, if you’ve found stories that have touched you in some way, you should be sure to let your friends and loved ones here at the ACHOF in on these gooey morsels of album art and artistry-related information. Please be sure to share this info with everyone you know who might be a fan of great album cover art and, of course, please be sure to share your comments and feedback with me, as they’re all important additions to our site.
To all of you – best wishes for Peace, Love and Understanding in the New Year. Eat great food, listen to great music, visit a museum or gallery, drink and drive responsibly and enjoy yourselves – just be happy. Cheers, Mike G
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