Art Chantry Official : Coming soon to facebook

Don't tell anyone, Art Chantry is going digital.

okay, well, just enough to host a proper home on the web mind you.

But you knew that. A digital approach to his creative technique would kill the mighty halftone beast we know and love. Art has meticulously cut & pasted his way into modern graphic design lore without drop shadow digitalism mucking up his vision and it never will. It's just that Art's constantly swelling body of work and his legion of supporters have outgrown their current organization. This is good news. No better time to manipulate the efficiency of today's commercial communication techniques to further the career of a brilliantly cynical man who should have his own island by now. Take that, Social Media. Chalk one up for the weird little artist guy.

One of the most imitated and distinctive graphic designers in recent memory, Art exists and thrives in his archaic methodical universe of defunct design equipment, insuring his design style to retain it's organic low-fidelity/high-energy appeal. Art Chantry's work is legend, his striking imagery a future throwback of 50's and 60's subculture nods neatly folded into a head-on bus crash with gritty street minded 70s punk rock. This graphics hybrid defined the Northwest music scene of the late 80's-mid 90's, and it's Mr. Chantry we thank for some of the era's most iconic artwork.

I've had the pleasure of working with Art lately, my jaw dropping at every turn while I put in a helping hand to get him up and running on his official facebook page. He's no stranger to the medium. Art has been affectionately snapping and biting at folks on his personal facebook page for awhile now, the decision to go 'pro' is a result of breaching his allotted 5 thousand 'friends' limit.  Perhaps it's The Man's subtle way of letting him know it was time for things to change. Change? Art Chantry?
Well sure. While many people assume he would resist deviation from his habitual tendencies, I gather that Art is wide open for productivity and progression in certain aspects of his life. Those who know his reputation as a staunch classicist romanticize his existence and assume he resides in an abandoned military bunker like a Howard Hughes recluse, struggling to open cans of Olympia with his 6 inch long fingernails and burning his unsold screen prints in an oil barrel to keep himself warm. This is only partially true. Art has a nice pair of fingerless wool gloves and a flatcap to keep him warm too.

Art is oblivious to fame, and gross fortune has eluded him, but as a self-poclaimed 'crappist', that's probably a good thing. It's sufficient enough for him to be surrounded with the loads of cool
crap he does have, collected during the many phases of his ongoing residence as diy graphic design royalty. Most importantly, through it all, Art has not compromised his ideals, and for once that's not a cliché. It wouldn't suit him otherwise. However fleeting and talentless the current flavor of mainstream America is, its overwhelming presence can sometimes have a tendency to drag the best creative minds into paralysis, but with dudes around who have Art Chantry's electroshock intellect and affinity for the unique, we are all going to be just fine.

Here is a little preview of things to come, Art's page should be fully loaded by the end of the week. Come by and give the old timer a 'Like' would you? You won't be disappointed, there is plenty to do there. One of Art's photo albums has around 500 images, primarily pics of random graphic design oddities, each more intriguing than the next. Art provides a background and an identity for each with his own little editorial spin through a series of essays penned in his signature bitter magnetism ...

The Voice of a Generation.

Look familiar?  A small sampling of the often-imitated designs of Art Chantry

Some of the subject matter of Art's essays . killer killer stuff

Putting out the fire with Chantryline™