Unheard Conversations: A Wonderful Collection of Carved Coconut Heads, by John Turner, Blurb, 72 pages, 103 color and 11 black-and-white illustrations, 2019. ISBN: 978-1714598229. Paperback, $85 Kitsch and art each have their virtue. Art, at least when recognized as such, is reputable, upmarket even when inexpensive, and trades on originality. Kitsch is disreputable, down market even when expensive, and trades on clichés. Yet kitsch can be fun, funny, and sometimes even meaningful. It is remarkably effective in evoking a time or a place or a feeling. Consider tikis, pink flamingos or Hello Kitty. It also can say a lot about a culture, revealing
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Roadside Art Tableaus
There are isolated bursts of brilliance all along Western Avenue and other working-class stretches of Chicago’s orderly street grid. And every once in a while you come across a building or a sales lot where the signmaker’s art gives way to something far more ambitious than a simple commercial illustration. Here are three examples — all gone now — where the signage adds up to a large-scale piece of art.
Continue readingThe Famous Bottle Cap Inn
Just added: a recently acquired Bottle Cap Inn postcard showing a different angle on the exterior. Click here for a full gallery of Bottle Cap Inn images, outside and in.
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Da Masterpiece Disappeared
Circa 1995 you could find a fantastic set of murals advertising D&A Auto Body Repair at Western Avenue and 47th Street. This prodigious achievement, featuring at least three distinct styles, does not survive, but here are its highlights. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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Automotive Artistic Commitment
Julio’s Auto Parts has maintained its commitment to the art of auto parts over many years. This gallery features images from 2002 and 2016. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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Dynamic Auto Parts
Most auto parts are about as prosaic as can be, but they are often made dynamic through the magic of roadside art. This gallery starts with a straightforward representation of a spark plug, picking up creative steam with the artist at International Auto Service, who wins for the bold use of color and shapes. The Illinois Starter artist went for simplification of the parts and highlighting technique. The puddle approach makes Akram Electric stand out while Rudy’s goes the more traditional cover-the-earth strategy. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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Auto Parts Come Alive
The right artist can bring auto parts and auto repair alive, whether through grotesque hybrids, anthropomorphized mechanicals or mechanics who are plain realistic. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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Auto Parts Afloat
One of the most common techniques for promoting auto repair shops and parts stores is to have a large variety of images floating around the place. These three examples of folky auto parts run from the North Side to the Far South Side of Chicago . Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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It’s About The Car
Repair shops and sales lots alike commission some fine vehicle renderings, from the schematic to the realistic to the bizarre. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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Used Car Neon Extravaganza
The neon extravaganza promoting the Car Town used-car lot on Western Avenue in Chicago was dismantled in 2020, having stood there, it’s believed, since the mid-1950s. The neon was complemented by some large-scale painted signs as well as a very nice Mid-Century Modern structure. More on Car Town. Back to the Automotive Art Gallery index
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