Maira Kalman is an illustrator, author, and designer who first moved to New York in 1950 and who has had a career in creating chaotic narratives. She's not from "the street", but her work parrallels to a lot of the street artist/collaboration crossover we see today in Complexland—she has done it all from wallpapers to sneaker collabos. The survey of her work on display now at the Jewish museum includes her collaborations with Vans, Issac Mizrahi, and Issey Miyake, as well as her favorite literary quotes in a series of eccentric wall instillations. Maira Kalman has illustrated almost every aspect of her life, giving all subject matter the same mantel of importance and giving us a full survey of her life and career as a New York artist. Check it out if you can.
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) opens March 11 and is on display through July 31st. [The Jewish Musuem]
1. Self-Portrait (with Pete), 2004-5, gouache on paper 2. Keep Calm, 2007, gouache on paper 3. Vans x Kalman Collaboration 4. On This Day, 2010, pigment ink print 5. Crosstown Boogie Woogie, cover illustration for The New Yorker, 1995, gouache on paper 6. Issac Misrahi Collaboration Embroidery 7. Detail, Issac Misrahi Collaboration Embroidery 8. Le Corbusier Sink, 2006, gouache on paper 9. On This Day, 2010 pigment ink print 10. Man Dances on Salt, 2007, gouache on paper 14. Snickers, 2002, gouache on paper
