Poster Artist Jay Ryan to Appear at Sugar Maple

“Don’t quit your day job” is a derisive cliché oftenused to dismiss the artistic individual of whom the critic disapproves, butsuch errant counsel would be ironically wasted on Jay Ryan. As owner/operatorof The Bird Machine, his highly successful screen print poster workshop locatedin Skokie, Ill., Ryan makes a living designing posters for bands, concerts,theaters and art events across the globe, as well as artwork for such corporateclients as Patagonia clothing, Converse shoes and the British BroadcastingCorp.

“Renaissance Man” is a fawning adjective tacked onto just about anyone working in multiple disciplines, but in Ryan’s case it justmight be apropos: In addition to his commercial artwork, Ryan also plays basswith Chicago’s indie-rock group Dianogah, lectures at universities andgalleries throughout Europe and the United States, and published a 2005compendium, 100 Posters, 134 Squirrels:A Decade of Hot Dogs, Large Mammals, and Independent Rock: The Handcrafted Artof Jay Ryan.

In an agewhen art, design, information dissemination and even basic social interactionare increasingly impersonal and digital, Ryan’s hand-printed artwork has earnedhim the “underground” label. His witty, humorous prints, often featuringrodentia, are featured anew in a new book, Animalsand Objects In and Out of Water, a collection of his favorite pieces fromthe last three years.

Ryan willappear at Bay View’s Sugar Mapletavern (441 E. Lincoln Ave.)in support of that book, joined by fellow Chicagoan Paul Hornschemeier, anillustrator working primarily in comics, who will present his own impressiveartwork in another collection, All andSundry: Uncollected Work 2004-2009. The meet and greet with twoextraordinary artists will commence at 7 p.m. Nov. 12.

Mono-printsby Californiamultimedia artist Cadillac Jones will be displayed at Landmarks Gallery (231 N. 76th St.) in an exhibit called “Design andAbstraction,” Nov. 7-30. Often eclectic in his choice of materials, Jones drawshis palette from found objects, rusty metal, handmade paper and organic fibers.