Description

Join us in this episode (the first of a two-part series) for a conversation with graphic designer Art Chantry, a national treasure, whose posters are collected by The Smithsonian and The Louvre.

Opening with childhood memories of Parkland on the fringes of Tacoma, Washington, Art describes a restless educational path that eventually brought him to Bellingham. He shares experiences of his subsequent arrival to Seattle in the 1980’s, including street observations that shaped his aesthetics. He tells of art directing the music biweekly magazine The Rocket on a shoestring budget before launching a one-man graphic design firm, churning out hundreds of posters, logos and album covers for rock bands including Soundgarden and Mudhoney associated with Sub Pop, Estrus and other home-grown record labels.

Art’s stories reveal the genesis of a vital visual lexicon—subversive, populist and modern—that simultaneously reflected and transformed the Pacific Northwest: From a backwater for “losers,” to the forefront of global popular culture in the 1990’s and beyond.

"It’s black and white. It's scrappy. There’s not a straight line on the whole goddamn thing. It looks like it was cut and pasted together out of chunks of Xerox junk. It is just an atrocious mess. And it’s beautiful…. It’s so alive—You still look at it and it makes your heart jump!” ~ Art Chantry

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.