John Carlin (businessman)
Encyclopedia
John Carlin is an American entrepreneur, art historian, record producer, and cultural historian has credentials that are “unconventional and upscale: a degree in comparative literature from Columbia University, a Ph.D. from Yale in the same subject, and a law degree from Columbia."
His career is equally varied, embracing entertainment law
, art and popular culture, web design and the record industry. Along the way, he founded two innovative companies, wrote and published numerous articles in the fields of art and literature and produced 20 groundbreaking albums and related television programs, which incorporated the talents of leading performers, producers, directors and visual artists culminating in donations of over $10 million for AIDS
relief worldwide.
in Comparative Literature
from Yale University
. During this period, he was the lead art critic for Paper
magazine, taught at Yale, Williams College
, SUNY Purchase, and Connecticut College
and curated museum exhibitions related to pop culture at many venues, including the Whitney Museum of American Art
.
After receiving his JD
from Columbia Law School
, Carlin began practicing entertainment law at the New York firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
, representing corporate clients ranging from EMI Music, SBK Records
and Revlon
to artists like Jonathan Demme
, Richard Hell
, Art Spiegelman
and David Wojnarowicz
.
, Carlin grew troubled by the nation's AIDS
epidemic. “Then providence — in the form of a disingenuous client — called.” "I blew my fuse when a company I was working with did a thing to raise money for AIDS and then never gave the money," Carlin says. "I thought, 'Instead of getting mad, go do something about it."
While at the firm, Carlin created what was to become the multimedia project—“Red Hot + Blue
” a Cole Porter
tribute album featuring original recordings by U2
, k.d. lang
, Sinead O’Connor, Annie Lennox
, David Byrne
. Its 1 ½ hour TV special, hosted by Richard Gere
, Carrie Fisher
and Kyle MacLachlan
aired on December 1, 1990 – International AIDS day during prime time on ABC
. In 1990, John left the law firm to found the Red Hot Organization
as an ongoing production company, which became one of the leading international organizations dedicated to fighting AIDS through popular culture.
Since then, the Red Hot Organization
has produced 20 groundbreaking albums and related television programs, incorporating the talents of leading performers, producers, directors and visual artists to give away over $10 million for AIDS relief, including over a million dollars from the album Dark Was The Night
, an indie rock compilation produced by Carlin with Aaron and Bryce Dessner
of The National
. Over 400 music and visual artists, producers and songwriters such as: Madonna
, Dolly Parton
, Sting, The Roots
, Nirvana
, David Bowie
, Mary J. Blige
, Herbie Hancock
, Arcade Fire, and Feist have donated their talent and vision to Red Hot's cause. Despite the popularity of the Red Hot albums, the weight of Red Hot's cause is never lost on Carlin. He's quoted in Rolling Stone Magazine as saying, "we're a company that would like to be out of business." In the same article Rolling Stone
refers to the Red Hot Organization
as "The music industry's most successful AIDS-awareness group."
Networks, Cartoon Network
, Comedy Central
, Star Trek
, Crayola
, The Smithsonian Institution, PBS
, CNN
, HBO, Bloomberg
, The City of New York, The School of Visual Arts, as well as cultural institutions like the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
, the Experience Music Project, and many others.
In the book, “Designing for children: marketing design that speaks to kids,” Catharine Fishel interviewed Carlin on his approach.
"Carlin has a unique background in both business and art..." which allows him "...to bring creativity and imagination into the company." In 2004, Funny Garbage worked with Angela Martini
to create a comedy series for Disney based on her character Katbot
with a pilot directed by Beavis and Butt-Head
's Emmy-nominated director Mike deSeve.
. Comic Power focused on the emergence of underground and independent comics, commonly referred to as "comix", in the United States. Unlike the commercial comic industry, underground comics were designed primarily for an adult audience. The themes and issues engaged by underground comic artists were explicitly personal, with powerfully idiosyncratic sexual, social and political themes. Also, underground comic art was strongly visual, putting forth an innovative approach to graphic design and artistic expression that is built upon and challenges traditional comic strip form and content.
In December, 2005 , Carlin co-produced (with art historian Jonathan Fineberg) a two-hour documentary on 20th century American art called Imagining America that aired on PBS
on Wednesday, December 28, 2005. A companion book was later published, which takes readers from Ralph Waldo Emerson
to Cindy Sherman
in under 200 image-filled pages.
In the Fall 2006, Carlin curated the exhibition “Masters of American Comics”, a large-scale exhibition comprising in-depth presentations of work by 15 artists who shaped the development of the American comic strip
and comic book
during the past century. With over 900 objects on view simultaneously at both museums, the exhibition provided understanding and insight into the medium of comics as an art form. "The history of comics is about many things--stories, gags, characters and layouts. But in the end, it all boils down to inventive ways to design pictures and words to engage readers and make them pay attention." The exhibit ran at the Jewish Museum
, the Museum of Contemporary Art
and the Hammer Museum
in Los Angeles. A related book, also called Masters of American Comics was published in 2005 complete with illustrations, contributions by Jules Feiffer
, Jonathan Safran Foer
, Glen David Gold
, Matt Groening
, Pete Hamill
and a unifying essay by Mr. Carlin.
An introductory essay by Carlin for the Whitney Museum of American Art
, Downtown’s exhibit, 'The Comic Art Show,' ranged from the rampage of the 18th dynasty in Egypt
through the Cædmon
manuscript of circa A.D. 1000 to Goya, Rowlandson and an illustrated letter from the poet Stéphane Mallarmé
. New York Times critic, John Russell wrote of Carlin's essay, “Somewhere in all this, a very amusing book lies in wait for the right publisher.”.
In 2010, Carlin wrote an introductory essay for Ink Plots: The Tradition of the Graphic Novel, a publication by the School of Visual Arts
associated with an exhibition of the same name that explored "the development of sequential art over four decades with selections by SVA faculty members and showcases the work of SVA alumni who are pushing the boundaries of the graphic novel today." The exhibition and publication were curated by Marshall Arisman and Thomas Woodruff, professors at SVA, and included work by Patrick McDonnell
, illustrator of the popular Mutts
comic strip, Andres Vera Martinez, and Aaron Campbell.
His career is equally varied, embracing entertainment law
Entertainment law
Entertainment law or media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry. The principal areas of Entertainment Law overlap substantially with the well-known and conventional field of intellectual property law...
, art and popular culture, web design and the record industry. Along the way, he founded two innovative companies, wrote and published numerous articles in the fields of art and literature and produced 20 groundbreaking albums and related television programs, which incorporated the talents of leading performers, producers, directors and visual artists culminating in donations of over $10 million for AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
relief worldwide.
Early career
Carlin first began in the early 1980s as a Professor of Art and Popular Culture after obtaining his Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Comparative Literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. During this period, he was the lead art critic for Paper
Paper (magazine)
Paper magazine is a New York City–based independent magazine covering and discovering cultural movements with a focus on fashion, design, pop-culture, nightlife, music, art and film. The magazine covers trends, new creative talent, urban American lifestyle as well as international lifestyles and...
magazine, taught at Yale, Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, SUNY Purchase, and Connecticut College
Connecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
and curated museum exhibitions related to pop culture at many venues, including the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
.
After receiving his JD
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
, Carlin began practicing entertainment law at the New York firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. The firm has well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms...
, representing corporate clients ranging from EMI Music, SBK Records
SBK Records
SBK Records was a record label of the EMI Group that was founded in 1988.Stephen Swid, Martin Bandier, and Charles Koppelman formed the production company SBK in 1989 after they purchased the music publishing division of CBS Records in 1986....
and Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
to artists like Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
, Richard Hell
Richard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
, Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
and David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s.-Biography:...
.
Red Hot Organization
While working at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & GarrisonPaul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. The firm has well-noted expertise in its corporate, personal representation, entertainment law and litigation practices, having long been a leader among national litigation firms...
, Carlin grew troubled by the nation's AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic. “Then providence — in the form of a disingenuous client — called.” "I blew my fuse when a company I was working with did a thing to raise money for AIDS and then never gave the money," Carlin says. "I thought, 'Instead of getting mad, go do something about it."
While at the firm, Carlin created what was to become the multimedia project—“Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue
Red Hot + Blue is the first in the series of compilation albums from the Red Hot Organization. The recording was the first in the Red Hot Benefit Series...
” a Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
tribute album featuring original recordings by U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, k.d. lang
K.D. Lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
, Sinead O’Connor, Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
, David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
. Its 1 ½ hour TV special, hosted by Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
and Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
aired on December 1, 1990 – International AIDS day during prime time on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. In 1990, John left the law firm to found the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
as an ongoing production company, which became one of the leading international organizations dedicated to fighting AIDS through popular culture.
Since then, the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
has produced 20 groundbreaking albums and related television programs, incorporating the talents of leading performers, producers, directors and visual artists to give away over $10 million for AIDS relief, including over a million dollars from the album Dark Was The Night
Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
, an indie rock compilation produced by Carlin with Aaron and Bryce Dessner
Aaron and Bryce Dessner
Aaron and Bryce Dessner are twin brothers and members of the rock band The National. Aaron Dessnerwrites the majority of the music for The National. The brothers are co-founders, alongside Alec Hanley Bemis, of Brassland, a label that is home to artists including The National, the Clogs, catalog...
of The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
. Over 400 music and visual artists, producers and songwriters such as: Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Sting, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Arcade Fire, and Feist have donated their talent and vision to Red Hot's cause. Despite the popularity of the Red Hot albums, the weight of Red Hot's cause is never lost on Carlin. He's quoted in Rolling Stone Magazine as saying, "we're a company that would like to be out of business." In the same article Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
refers to the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
as "The music industry's most successful AIDS-awareness group."
Funny Garbage
In the mid-1990s, Carlin founded Funny Garbage the interactive development company, whose clients include MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Networks, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, Crayola
Crayola
Crayola is a brand of artists' supplies manufactured by Crayola LLC, which was founded in 1885 as Binney & Smith. It is best known for its crayons...
, The Smithsonian Institution, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, HBO, Bloomberg
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...
, The City of New York, The School of Visual Arts, as well as cultural institutions like the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, the Experience Music Project, and many others.
In the book, “Designing for children: marketing design that speaks to kids,” Catharine Fishel interviewed Carlin on his approach.
“Funny Garbage approached design for children from two perspectives. One perspective is best typified by our work for the Cartoon Network and Disney. It is mainstream style. The other perspective is represented by Willing-to-Try. This is more of a vision of what things could be rather than what they are. Both points of view are intellectually valid. The former is better suited to paying the rent.”
"Carlin has a unique background in both business and art..." which allows him "...to bring creativity and imagination into the company." In 2004, Funny Garbage worked with Angela Martini
Angela Martini
Angela Martini is an Albanian model. She won Miss Universe Albania in 2010.-Personal life and career:...
to create a comedy series for Disney based on her character Katbot
Katbot
Disney's Katbot was to be a comedy series based on the character Katbot and website created by Angela Martini for Funny Garbage with a pilot directed by Beavis and Butt-heads Emmy-nominated director Mike deSeve...
with a pilot directed by Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
's Emmy-nominated director Mike deSeve.
Art and popular culture contributions
1993, Carlin curated, “COMIC POWER: Independent/Underground Comix, U.S.A” with Carlo McCormickCarlo McCormick
Carlo McCormick is a culture critic and curator living in New York City. He is the author of numerous books, monographs and catalogues on contemporary art and artists.-Pedagogic Activity:...
. Comic Power focused on the emergence of underground and independent comics, commonly referred to as "comix", in the United States. Unlike the commercial comic industry, underground comics were designed primarily for an adult audience. The themes and issues engaged by underground comic artists were explicitly personal, with powerfully idiosyncratic sexual, social and political themes. Also, underground comic art was strongly visual, putting forth an innovative approach to graphic design and artistic expression that is built upon and challenges traditional comic strip form and content.
In December, 2005 , Carlin co-produced (with art historian Jonathan Fineberg) a two-hour documentary on 20th century American art called Imagining America that aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
on Wednesday, December 28, 2005. A companion book was later published, which takes readers from Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
to Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. Sherman currently lives and works in New York City. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. She is represented by Sprüth Magers Berlin London in and Metro Pictures gallery in...
in under 200 image-filled pages.
“Focusing on the biggest names in 20th-century art-O'Keefe, Davis, Pollock, Rauschenberg, Warhol, Basquiat-the authors, writer-curator Carlin and art historian Fineberg, present a spirited case for artists as society's "independent conscience," probing and reflecting changes that have shaped American life. The ideas of writers like Emerson, Pynchon and McLuhan and key developments in American music such as jazz and hip-hop are interwoven with stories of the creative quests of individual artists, which are gripping without being over-romanticized.”
In the Fall 2006, Carlin curated the exhibition “Masters of American Comics”, a large-scale exhibition comprising in-depth presentations of work by 15 artists who shaped the development of the American comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
and comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
during the past century. With over 900 objects on view simultaneously at both museums, the exhibition provided understanding and insight into the medium of comics as an art form. "The history of comics is about many things--stories, gags, characters and layouts. But in the end, it all boils down to inventive ways to design pictures and words to engage readers and make them pay attention." The exhibit ran at the Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum may refer to:Australia* Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne, VictoriaAustria* Jewish Museum ViennaCzech Republic* Jewish Museum of PragueDenmark* Danish Jewish Museum, CopenhagenGeorgia...
, the Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
and the Hammer Museum
Hammer Museum
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, or the Hammer Museum as it is more commonly known, is an art museum in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California...
in Los Angeles. A related book, also called Masters of American Comics was published in 2005 complete with illustrations, contributions by Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
, Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer is an American author best known for his novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...
, Glen David Gold
Glen David Gold
Glen David Gold is known as the author of Carter Beats the Devil, a fictionalized biography of Charles Joseph Carter , an American illusionist performing from c.1900-1936 and Sunnyside. He writes in a narrative style, and the book was hailed as a very respectable venture into historical fiction...
, Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, Pete Hamill
Pete Hamill
Pete Hamill is an American journalist, novelist, essayist, editor and educator. Widely traveled and having written on a broad range of topics, he is perhaps best known for his career as a New York City journalist, as "the author of columns that sought to capture the particular flavors of New York...
and a unifying essay by Mr. Carlin.
An introductory essay by Carlin for the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, Downtown’s exhibit, 'The Comic Art Show,' ranged from the rampage of the 18th dynasty in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
through the Cædmon
Cædmon
Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon who cared for the animals and was attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch during the abbacy of St. Hilda , he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream,...
manuscript of circa A.D. 1000 to Goya, Rowlandson and an illustrated letter from the poet Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
. New York Times critic, John Russell wrote of Carlin's essay, “Somewhere in all this, a very amusing book lies in wait for the right publisher.”.
In 2010, Carlin wrote an introductory essay for Ink Plots: The Tradition of the Graphic Novel, a publication by the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
associated with an exhibition of the same name that explored "the development of sequential art over four decades with selections by SVA faculty members and showcases the work of SVA alumni who are pushing the boundaries of the graphic novel today." The exhibition and publication were curated by Marshall Arisman and Thomas Woodruff, professors at SVA, and included work by Patrick McDonnell
Patrick McDonnell
Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the daily comic strip Mutts. He has also illustrated Russell Baker's Sunday Observer column in The New York Times magazine and created the monthly comic strip Bad Baby for Parents magazine...
, illustrator of the popular Mutts
Mutts
Mutts is a daily comic strip created by Patrick McDonnell in 1994 based on the day-to-day adventures of two house pets: a dog named Earl and a cat named Mooch. Earl and Mooch interact with each other, their human owners and a large cast of neighborhood animals.Charles M...
comic strip, Andres Vera Martinez, and Aaron Campbell.
External links
- John Carlin Huffington Post bio
- 2009 Senior Capstone Panelist Bios
- Impact SVA Instructor Bios
- The New Generation Gap. An Exploratory Conversation with John Carlin, Steve Heller, editor of The Voice, May 22, 2007
- STRIP SHOW COMICS MASTERWORKS HITTING ART MUSEUMS
- PBS: Imagining America: Icons of 20th-Century American Art
- Funny Garbage
- RED HOT ORGANIZATION
- Indie Rockers Unite for AIDS, Kuwait Times, published Date: February 15, 2009
- One Year Later, Small Businesses still recovering from 9-11 attacks" The Daily Courier, by Jennifer Friedlin, Sept 1, 2002