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In this lo-tech show-and-tell Gary Panter will explain how his “hobbies” and obsessions fuel the prolific output of comics, books, typography, illustration, painting, printmaking, model-building, lightshow performances and semi-useless products he is continually producing. Introduction by Karrie Jacobs.

About Gary Panter
Three-time Emmy winner for his production design on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” and recipient of the 2000 Chrysler Award for Design Excellence, Gary Panter has drawn inspiration from diverse vernacular and classic arenas to continually redefine his influential work, both commercial and personal.

Throwing off pop-cultural milestones for 35 years, starting with his iconic Screamers logo from the ’70s, record covers for Frank Zappa, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Residents, and his ongoing comic character Jimbo; to his set and puppet design for “Pee Wee's Playhouse” which immediately became a model for what is acceptable and expected in illustration, animation, and advertising. Recently, for the Tokyo-(and now New York) based clothing company BAPE, he designed a line of Panter fabric and clothing.

As Steven Heller noted in a 2001 Metropolis magazine article “Most savvy graphic designers don't follow arcane comics or know its masters—which makes the bestowal upon Panter of last year's Chrysler Award for Design Excellence somewhat audacious. He is an outsider, and yet, as the award implies, he has made a significant contribution to contemporary visual and design culture—indeed more resonant than even the Chrysler jury knew.”

Publication offer
100.1 Drawings by Gary Panter, published in January 2005 ($25), collects the first 100 drawings (and their inspirational words) commissioned from the Custom Drawing Project, an ongoing endeavor at garypanter.com. The drawings are based on three keywords the art patron contributes, from which Panter free-associates and creates an ink drawing. The signed, limited edition book is available at a savings to AIGA members with registration, and will be sold at the cover price during the reception and signing immediately following the event.



Seven questions from Karrie Jacobs for Gary Panter

Is Jimbo in Purgatory an autobiographical work?
It was more of a purgatorial process than autobiographical. It helped me review and assess my ideas about religion and spirituality and temporality and dirty limericks...

What is it about Texas that warps people’s worldview or are Texans the only ones who can see clearly?
There is a lot of space in Texas. One is not distracted by the crowd all the time. You have to face your thoughts, if any are being had. However the local thin crowd is ever pushing some brand of religiosity, or conversely an abandonment of values.

What are the best three words that anyone has sent you to do a drawing from? Has anyone ever sent words you couldn’t draw?
RURAL RESISTIBLE SUBSTANCE was very hard. Once or twice I have asked someone to clarify their words, because they seemed to be aiming at something I couldn't see. I can't think of my favorite.

Are you at all nostalgic for the LA punk scene circa 1980? Does any particular image from that moment come to mind?
It was really neat and I'm glad I was there, but I don't wish for club smell. Seeing Claude Bessy (editor of Slash) wrest the microphone from Joe Strummer's hands a couple of times before security beat him up at the Clash show at the Santa Monica Civic. People running away from the awful noise of NON playing guitar with electric fans WAY too loud in an abandoned downtown building was good.

Do you remember the first time you laid eyes on Pee Wee Herman? What did you think?
Here's a very serious comedian who likes a lot of the same stuff I do.

Do apes take baths?
In Japan they have snow apes that bathe in the hot springs in the snowy winterscape, so in Japan they do at least.

Does that fluffy cloud over there look more like a bunny or a lamb?
Looks a bit more like beef brisket to me.