Paul Gorman is…

For Jim Walrod – ‘Decoration is the danger, function is the idea’: The On 1st experiment in conceptual art retailing

Sep 27th, 2017

** This post is dedicated to the New York design thinker and doer Jim Walrod, who has passed away. Just a couple of weeks ago I mentioned my intention to post about On 1st to Jim over dinner. Of course, he knew about the store but was excited to see what fresh info I might have turned up. I’ll write about Jim when I have collected my thoughts; wherever he is, I am sure Jim will join us all in the necessary proclamation: Fuck Trump**

//At the entrance to 1159 1st Avenue at 63rd was Sven Lukin’s two-tonne illuminated sign. Photo: Bert Stern//

//On 1st interior including displays of Roy Lichtenstein wallpaper and Gerald Laing plates. Photo: Bert Stern//

In conversation this summer, British artist Duggie Fields revealed to me that, during a sojourn in the US in 1968, he had been in line to work at photographer Bert Stern’s “architecturally mind-blowing” art store/publishing house On 1st in Manhattan’s east side.

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BBC Four Goes Pop in August: Derek Boshier commissioned to create new channel ident and also appears in What Do Artists Do All Day? and Pop Goes The Easel

Jul 22nd, 2015

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//Boshier features in these panels from BBC Four’s Pop Art-style run-down of the season elements//

British artist Derek Boshier – subject of Rethink/Re-entry, the monograph I have edited which is published this autumn – is to be featured in next month’s BBC season of programmes about Pop Art.

Boshier has been commissioned by the broadcaster to create a new BBC Four ident which will run throughout August alongside new logos produced by his fellow Royal College graduates Peter Blake and Peter Phillips (who starred with Boshier and the late Pauline Boty in Ken Russell’s groundbreaking 1962 BBC documentary Pop Goes The Easel).

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Pamla Motown returns with a new version of The Artist T-shirt

Oct 26th, 2012

//1975: Models Kathy + Jeremy in Artist tees at a New York fashion show.//

//2012: One of Motown's two new versions.//

Designer Pamla Motown – cherished for her contributions to 70s fashion with a run of sensational designs for Mr Freedom and under her own labels – is back with a new version of her graphic “Artist” T-shirt.

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Ideal Home: Biba beans + biscuit tins + wallpaper by David Bowie + Barney Bubbles

Sep 5th, 2011
Biba tin of baked beans

Can of Biba own-brand baked beans. Packaging design: Whitmore-Thomas Partnership, 1973.

Chelsea Space director Donald Smith has invited me to contribute items from my design collection to his forthcoming show Ideal Home, which features the work of more than 50 artists and designers spanning 1913 to 2011.

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The joys of Letterheady

Feb 9th, 2011

Ray Bradbury, date unknown.

According to Letterheady.com’s Shaun Usher, the adjective “letterheady” describes the feeling of being overcome by emotion at a strong letterhead design.

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