Ben Shahn used letter design, words and images to communicate his spiritual and political beliefs. His lettering ranges from stark and naive to whimsical. At every stage there is a perfect harmony between imagery and lettering.
In this workshop we will explore the "essence" of Ben Shahn's style and produce a piece of work which is inspired by his work, but using our own theme of musical instruments.
(This report has combined the London and Johannesburg workshop results)
I love Ben Shahn.
His lettering may look crude, even alongside wonderfully slightly naïve, stylised drawing, but if you knew that he studied typography and could draw the perfect Trajan O would that make a difference? Ben Shahn looked at street lettering in New York in the early 20's and drew his inspiration for his political posters there. So, on seeing the heart-rending poster with the last statement by Saccho and Venzetti, two innocent semi-literate men, the night before their execution, I felt that it was the most moving piece of handwritten work this century. No other style could be as appropriate!
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| Lois Graessle - Open Books, London Lois copied the words by Saccho and drew the flute deliberately using her left hand, although she is right-handed. |
In this workshop everyone studied Shahn's naïve styles of calligraphy and combined it with kebab-stick and ink drawings of musical instruments. Some of the letterforms shown came from a study of medieaval manuscripts.
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| Jill Watson, Johannesburg |
What was very interesting was that most people did not really respond the Shahn's style initially until they began copying it. Then they seemed to get into Shahn's rhthym and found that it made artistic sense. Once they were creating an alternative harmony, they discovered that they thoroughly enjoyed working in his style.
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| Carol Huff - Open Books, London |
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| Anne-Marie Moore - Johannesburg |
And then, as so often happens, I had to do an invitation and having immersed myself in Ben Shahn's work could not resist this naïve style as being appropriate for a ceilidh invitation.
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| Lin Kerr - Ceilidh invitation |
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