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By Nina J P Evans

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Ivan Chermayeff: Cut and Paste

I’ve been online savaging pieces from the summer exhibition titled Cut and Paste by the New York based graphic designer Ivan Chermayeff, though finished now at the De La Warr, I do hope it continues to travel and inspire. This was the first exhibition of his work in the UK as fittingly he is the son of one of the Pavilion architectural partners Serge Chermayef.  The gallery is a beautiful Grade one listed 1935 Art Deco modernist design situated right on the seafront at Bexhill on Sea. I was lucky enough this summer to visit and I greatly enjoyed seeing all the pieces, admittedly before seeing the exhibition, I was unfamiliar with most of his stuff – apart from the iconic trademarks: Pan Am, Mobil, NBC. This exhibition gave me the pleasure of realising instinctively that I was in the presence of one of the greatest living designers!
“Be interested in training yourself to look around, to notice connections, such as a small colour connection, or the tinniest thing that brings two things together.” ~ Ivan Chermayeff
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Further Reading

Thursday, December 04, 2014

Ivan Chermayeff: Why Stamps?

With the temptation of ordering art supplies and materials from eBay, I pondered at the recycle paper trash bin at the foreign stamps with brown coarse packaging. So tempting to salvage … and here with these graphic collages by Ivan Chermayeff  I can see why I found such temptation appealing and how such things can be used to great effect! Here, envelopes are turned sideways becoming and forming new identities sometimes in bizarrely human forms. By simply utilising the humble postage stamp juxtaposed with other media, these pieces are intelligently fashioned and designed. As featured in Why Stamps? “Chermayeff calls attention to the parts with a brief essay on postage stamps and a selection of fourteen collages which use stamps and mail to the best possible effect. Also shown are two of Chermayeff’s smallest cut-paper collages: Stamps for the USPS and Royal Mail.” Above and below are some illustrated samples, I just love the visual compositions of the pieces and the way that they are delightfully interjected with humour.
Ivan Chermayeff’s Stamp Collection