HEAR YE, HEAR YE - The first monthly ACHOF News Summary and Preview of the year has just been posted - Hello to you all - 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 (January, 2018), as well as several previews of items of interest taking place in the coming month of February, 2018.
Shortlink - https://wp.me/p15kTT-wP
The first month of 2018 really delivered for fans of album cover artistry, with kudos for Best Record Packaging and Box Sets/Limited Edition packages handed out at the Grammy Awards on January 28th along with the top picks for the annual Best Art Vinyl awards – chosen by voters around the world – announced earlier in the month on January 9th. As you’ll see in my recaps way down in Section 5, there were plenty of surprises – including a TIE (!!) – and praise handed out to the very talented producers of this year’s top vote-getters, so to all those who complain that “album art is dead”, I think that you should take a look at all of the nominated works before backing that horse from this point forward...
I’m feeling good about what’s in this month’s summary as it contains many items that should interest 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 recently took place involving the people that make your favorite album art. You’ll find news about Exhibitions past and present that include shows like the one at Mr. Musichead in LA featuring the talents of photographer Robert M. Knight, a new version of cover expert Antoine de Beaupre’s Total Records show customized for visitors to the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and an update on the upcoming show at the Oak Park Art League’s gallery here in the Chicago area in which I, Mike G., will be one of the judges and will be giving a presentation/lecture about album art/artists in late March, complete with 20 examples of great cover art from my personal collection (sure to be a crowd-pleaser!).
After taking all that in, you’ll then be treated to the details of an video profile of image maker Brian Griffin (produced by Portuguese art TV channel Canal180) while Section 4 includes the details about – and the story behind – two new limited-edition prints by photographer Robert Dowling (published by White Bank Fine Art in London) taken during his photo shoot the cover of Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason (featuring hundreds of brass beds on an English beach) and a “small world” story about two old friends of mine in Los Angeles, photographer Drew Carolan and his recently released book about the interesting people that hung around CBGBs in the early 1980s. In Section 5, you’ll complete your journey through this month’s aggregation which this month contains the details about this year’s Grammy Awards for record packaging, the winners of the 11th annual Best Art Vinyl competition, an update on the “Best and Worst” album art of 2017 and a hodge-podge of articles on topics ranging from Star Wars-influenced album art to Andy Warhol’s first encounter with a Macintosh computer at Sean Lennon’s 9th birthday party.
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 produce, support and promote the works created for music recordings from all over the globe. And, if you pay close attention, you’ll even learn a bit more about the status of my fund-raising project for the book about album cover artists I’m hoping to publish this year (it’s almost here!). I would be remiss if I didn’t 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 – continued wishes for Peace, Love and Understanding wherever you are and whatever you’re up to. Until next month - Cheers, Mike G
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