One Thing Leads to Another

Recently, when browsing on Boo-Hooray, an online underground movement archive, to my surprise, I noticed that they featured my art created in 1979 in their "Record Dreams" catalogue.

I created that art on my kitchen table as the LP cover for the then-unknown Croatian punk band Dirty Theater (Prljavo kazaliste). I came up with the idea for this cover partly because the band was very young and didn't know exactly how to play. They wanted to sound like The Rolling Stones, but they sounded punk because of their lack of skills. Also, referencing The Rolling Stone's song "Some Girls", Dirty Theater had a song named "Some Boys". Because of all these elements, I created this image. The record became an instant hit in Yugoslavia. 

After that, I did many other things. I moved to the US and almost forgot about that project. 

Suddenly, in 2012, the Hayward Gallery in London created "Someday All the Adults Will Die": Punk Graphics 1971—1984 show. Among others, they exhibited my cover.

In the review of their show, The Huffington Post featured my art with the caption "One of the revolutionary graphics on show". 

Soon after that, Rizzoli published the book "Punk: An Aesthetic", in which they featured Dirty Theater's LP. I was extremely pleased because Dirty Theater's LP was featured on a spread with one of my favourite records, "No Exist" by The Clash.

In 2018, Jens Muller and Julius Wiedemann featured the cover art in a spread about my work in their monumental 2-volume book "The History of Graphic Design" published by Taschen.

Then, the cherry on the cake, in 2023, MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York) included that cover in their collection. 

Not bad for a 2-day work on a kitchen table.

 

MoMA: "Never Alone-Video Games and Other Interactive Design"

I am very proud to share this news with you. This weekend I went to see "Never Alone-Video Games and Other Interactive Design", a new show at MoMA. I didn't go there only because I liked the shows at MoMA but also because, in this particular show, they displayed the Home Pong video game console that I donated to MoMA in 2015.

This is the second time MoMA has shown one of the many items that I have donated to them. In 2017, in the show "Thinking Machines: Art and Design in the Computer Age, 1959-1989", they displayed Paul Rand's IBM Supply Kit from 1979, which I also donated to them. 

I am so happy to see those items in both shows. It feels almost like I created them.

 

 

"Zabranjeno pusenje" in MoMA collection

My design of the cover for the band Zabranjeno pusenje (No Smoking) 45 vinyl record in permanent collection of MoMA museum in New York.
More posts about my works in MoMA collection here and here.

"Diably z Loudun" by Roman Cieslewicz

I recently acquired this striking and very unusual poster for a theater play, Diably z Loudun (Devil in London). The poster was designed by one of the most known Polish designers, Roman Cieslewicz in 1974.

I already had a copy of this once, but few years ago, with additional 5 pieces from Roman, I donated them to The MoMA and now they are in their collection.

I am happy that once again, I have my own copy.

25 Years Later, on the Walls of The New York Times

Success is a very relative thing. When the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) announced earlier this year that they were putting eight of my designs for The New York Times Op-Ed pages in their collection, I was excited.

However, when The New York Times recently decided to frame and put four of my Op-Ed pages in their waiting room, I was thrilled. Especially because at the time when I was the art director for the Op-Ed pages between 1992–1993, not only were there few Mac computers available in the art department, but also there was a big resistance in general to such a radical approach.









When the NYTimes told me that they were going to frame the Op-Ed pages, I didn't know exactly where they were going to put them. Especially, I didn't know that they were going to put them opposite the wall on which they posted some of the best illustrations created for the Op-Ed pages. And I definitely didn't know that two of my illustrations, created in 1991 and '92 (before I became art director) are a part of that wall.

Op-Ed Pages in MoMA

I'm proud to announce that MoMA New York acquired eight of The New York Times Op-Ed pages for their collection (images not available yet), which I designed as the art director from 1992 to 1993.

Considering this eight Op-Ed pages as one piece of work, now I have 38 works in MoMA's collection.

Being the art director of Op-Ed pages, I had the pleasure of working with some of the top writers and illustrators. The editorial team, headed by Mike Levitas, supported me in creating some quite unusual pages, which were very "experimental" for The New York Times at that time.

Here are some of them.

Donation to MoMA

A few pictures from today's visit to Thinking Machines: Art and Design in the Computer Age, 1959-1989 show that opened at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art, New York) on November 13th.

I'm very happy to let you know that one of my gifts to MoMA, Paul Rand's IBM Supply Kit from 1979 is part of the show. What makes me even more happier is that the poster Tendencije 4 by my old friend, a Croatian designer Ivan Picelj (1924-2011) is also part of the show.

More about the show here: https://goo.gl/6cgr5X

Roman Cieslewicz's posters

Not to think I just like and collect comics, I like and collect other things too. Recently, I got myself this two beautiful posters by Roman Cieslewicz, Polish-French designer. His Amnesty International poster is probably one of my favorite posters. This one is even signed and numbered. I wrote about the influence of that poster on my work in Stefan Sagmeister's book Made you look.

This is the second time I own a copy of this poster. The first one I donated to MoMA.
Later, I regretted it and managed to get another one.

Don't misunderstand me, I like the poster for Moscow Paris show too.

More about Roman Cieslewicz here: https://goo.gl/LCjwu9

Donation to MoMA

I'm very proud to announce that MoMA (Museum of Modern Art New York) just announced the acceptance of the donation by Veljko Despot and I in their collection.
The donation included a 45rpm vinyl record and collateral material for Beatles Fan Club Yugoslavia designed by Mihajlo Arsovski in 1968.

My design in MoMA

Today MoMA, in their show Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye, displayed four of my designs from their collection. Not only is my work is on the same wall with Sex Pistols, Ramones, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, but also on the same wall as Milton Glaser's Bob Dylan and many others. It's an honor to hang with them.

My Artwork in MoMA collection

I am pleased to announce that MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York, included 38 pieces of my artwork in their permanent collection.

They just uploaded on their website the complete listing of my work in their collection. Unfortunately they didn't yet have the time to take appropriate photography of the work, and there are a few mistakes in the captions, but all of that is going to be fixed in another week or so.

Here is the link to MoMA website.

Mihajlo Arsovski's design for Arsen Dedić, "Čovjek kao ja" LP in MoMA

I just received this letter from MoMA's Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, Martino Stierli.

My sincere congratulations to Mihajlo Arsovski and especially to Arsen Dedić for accepting such a beautiful and unconventional design for his cover!