STEAM: Caricatures of Notable People in the World of Science, Technology & the Arts By Mike Caplanis

by Steve Loya

Right down the road from me, at the George Washington University Science & Technology Campus in Ashburn, VA is an extraordinary art exhibit taking place featuring the caricature work of Mike Caplanis. Titled "STEAM: Caricatures of Notable People in the World of Science, Technology & the Arts", this show could not be happening at a more appropriate time, as public schools across the country are now starting to focus more and more on the merging of the strengths of science, technology and arts-related curriculums. In fact, next week my own school will have its first "STEAM Week" (formerly STEM, until recently, when the arts began to finally gain recognition as an absolutely valid element in public school programs). Caplanis, whose brilliant and unique take on the caricature genre, has been featured in the Washingon Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Los Angeles Times, the Oxford-American History Magazine, among many others. He also illustrated the book Drawn to the Civil war, which features the biographies and caricatures of Civil War heroes. Seeing some of my own personal heroes illustrated in this exhibit, including the likes of Claude Monet, Orson Welles, Sitting Bull, Bob Marley, Frida Kahlo, Johnny Cash, the members of the Beatles, and many more, made my day. The exhibit, located at Enterprise Hall on the George Washington University Virginia Science & Technology Campus is free and open to the public, and ends on March 30, 2015. 

Face to Face - Illustrations and prose by Martin Graff (the Face Zone) and Laura McClure (Animals for Sam), at the Griffin Art Center through 1/31/2015

Last Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending the opening artists' reception for Martin Graff (The Face Zone) and Laura McClure (Animals for Sam), entitled Face To Face. The reception was held at a fantastic space in the heart of downtown Frederick, Maryland, known as The Griffin Art Center. Laura and Martin had their work on exhibit together, in the middle gallery (I believe there were three galleries altogether at the center). I met Marty (as he likes to be called) at another, comics-themed art opening in Frederick last year, and through him, Laura, who also had some of her art at the show. I've been gladly following their work via Facebook and blog posts ever since. While the two have a very different approach to their work, stylistically, what their art has in common is a symbiotic relationship with words. 

 Animals for Sam was started by Laura as a way to keep her young, animal-loving godson Sam informed about a wide variety of animal species - kind of like a weekly digital postcard. Laura hand-draws the animals on her computer, using a mouse, usually dressing them in human attire that relates to a certain aspect of a particular species, mostly having to do with their environment or geographic location. She also merges photographic imagery in the background, adding a sense of depth and dimension to her work. A verbal description, both highly factual and informative, while told in the artist's own conversational style, discusses everything from eating habits, to odd and unique physical and behavioral characteristics. Finally, a small graph is at the bottom of each blog post, illustrating the animal species' level of vulnerability to extinction. I could imagine myself thoroughly enjoying something like this as a boy, who like Sam, held a keen interest in wildlife and the natural world. At the show, the framed digital print pieces were quite popular, as many of them were sold. Looking forward to a book compiling these works, hopefully in the near future!

As with many artists and creative types, music plays a big role in Martin Graff's Face Zone works, which employ a cartoon-inspired minimalist approach visually. The influence of punk rock lyricism is evident in the clever verbal wordplay of the sometimes darkly humorous poetry and prose that accompanies The Face Zone illustrations. Martin's blog posts can range from contemplative to laugh-out-loud hilarious, but they always make excellent food-for-thought, which is probably where his influence as a public school teacher comes in as well. Along with his work hanging on the walls of the gallery, Martin had a newly published book compiling his Face Zone material available, a good many of which sold at the show. I highly recommend grabbing one for yourself HERE. In the meantime, don't hesitate to read more about Martin and The Face Zone in this recent article from The Frederick News-Post!

Be sure to check out Face to Face in person, at the Griffin Art Center, which runs through January 31st, 2015!

more cARToons: Feb. 6-27

cARToons hosts its second exhibit in D.C. next month. The show runs from Feb. 6-27 at the University of the District of Columbia (Gallery 42), with an opening reception on Feb. 6 from 6:30-8 p.m. Featured work by Steven Artley, Carolyn Belefski, Matt Dembicki, Teresa Roberts Logan, Michael Auger, Andrew Cohen, David Hagen and Rafer Roberts.

Shattered Asian American Comics Anthology photos

Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology - A Secret Identities Book - had a booksigning at Busboys and Poets, Washington, DC, with editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow, filmmaker Michael Kang and cartoonist Jamie Noguchi. The talk went for about an hour and a half and culminated in a 'design a supervillain' crowdsourcing event. The Stain is the audience-designed character drawn by Noguchi. The talk was enjoyable. I read a few stories in the book while waiting and enjoyed the ones by Kang and Noguchi; Bernard Chang's was disappointing because it concludes online somewhere. More pictures are online here.





Julian Lytle who does the Ants webcomic shared my table, and multitasked by working on his strip:

How about Happy Hooligan? Or Princeton plates?

Here's a Happy Hooligan planter (possibly) I picked up last weekend. It's small - it would fit in the palm of my hand.







And here's some plates that appear to be aimed at appealing to a Princeton University sophisticate.


"With his active interests, we'll probably send him to Princeton!" cartoon plate made by Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.


"She once dated a Princeton man! What's she doing up here?" cartoon plate made http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifby Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.


Label on reverse of Princeton cartoon plate - made by Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.

Finally, I didn't get anything but the photographs, but here's another of the Disney nutrition posters at DC bus stops - the third I think.