Media coverage of the 2018 exhibition Up is Down: Mid-Century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio at The Block Museum of Art.
ArtNews
This year’s honorees were selected from 150 nominations, and work in a variety of fields, including native and indigenous art, contemporary art, folk art, medieval art, American art, media art, and photography.”
“We are honored by this important gift of art from the Christian Keesee Collection,” said Block Museum director Lisa Corrin. “It highlights the value of the collection as a significant resource for faculty, students and the Chicago-area community. Collectors like Mr. Keesee know that giving works of art to The Block ensures that these treasures will be studied and appreciated, particularly by new generations of students, for many years to come.””
"Up Is Down: Mid-century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio. This show celebrates the golden age of advertising through the lens of a homegrown design giant. In the 1950s, Chicago was a hub for modernist graphic design, with Goldsholl and Associates being one of the best-known firms, churning out iconic logos for Motorola, 7-Up, and Vienna Beef. It even produced many of the era’s then-groovy, now-nostalgic educational short films." -Jason Foumberg, John Hardberger, Britt Julious, Graham Meyer, Catey Sullivan, and Lauren Warnecke
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Jason Foumberg, John Hardberger, Britt Julious, Graham Meyer, Catey Sullivan, and Lauren Warnecke, August 29, 2018
Reel Chicago
"Leo Burnett has played a key role in elevating Chicago’s prominence internationally, and many designs from the Leo Burnett archive are present in upcoming Art Design Chicago exhibitions, such as Up is Down: Mid-century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio, opening September 18 at the Block Museum of Art." -Carol Fox and Associates
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"At Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art, Terra Foundation funding has enabled director Lisa Corrin ‘to bring to light a forgotten chapter in our city’s cultural history’. Working with Chicago Film Archives, she has explored the experimental artist-designer-filmmakers Morton and Millie Goldsholl and their advertising firm Goldsholl Design & Film Associates, founded in the 1950s." -Louise Nicholson
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"Beste connects the Goldsholls' relationship to corporations to their interest in materials. 'They had an investment in experimentation and material which translates into an interest in material life,' she says. 'How do people understand their lives through the materials they engage with?'" -Amy Beste in conversation with Fulla Abdul-Jabbar
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"Up is Down: Mid-Century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio. This show celebrates the golden age of advertising through the lens of a homegrown design giant."
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"Billed as the first major exhibition to explore the trailblazing work of these mid-20th century artists, designers, and filmmakers and their advertising firm, Goldsholl Associates, "Up is Down" explores the many ways in which they applied experimental and avant-garde filmmaking techniques to advertising and brand development." -Hedy Weiss
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"Goldsholl Design Associates, headed by husband and wife Morton and Millie Goldsholl, were instrumental in introducing the principles of Bauhaus design to the American public through innovative campaigns for the likes of 7UP, Motorola, NFL, Revlon andKimberly Clark. And their advertising and design work also elevated Chicago’s lasting impact on American design."
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Logos for Chicago companies like Motorola and Vienna Beef have become iconic but the creators of those designs have started to fade into history, but a new exhibition is trying to change that. - Logos for Chicago companies like Motorola and Vienna Beef have become iconic but the creators of those designs have started to fade into history, but a new exhibition is trying to change that. - Carrie Shepard
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Co-curators Amy Beste and Corinne Granof discuss the legacy and impact of the Goldsholl Studio on design and advertising and provide insight into the curating process for a multimedia show that includes a wide variety of mediums and formats. The Block Museum’s Dan Silverstein elaborates on the detailed process required to produce such a tech-heavy exhibition, including how to find old tube televisions in the internet era. ”
Up Is Down will include rarely seen films, as well as photography, glass slides, posters, print advertisements, and package design that tell the story of the creative life of the studio. The exhibition will highlight some of the iconic corporate logos designed by Morton Goldsholl and the firm and showcase prominent advertising campaigns by the firm
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"Join the co-curators Amy Beste and Corinne Granof, and Greg Holderfield, the Director of the Segal Design Institute, for a tour of the exhibition Up Is Down: Mid-century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio, in which the trio share their perspectives on the groundbreaking design work of Morton and Millie Goldsholl." - Carole Kuhrt Brewer
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"Before the day is over, be sure to stop by the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. Through Dec. 9, the museum's Main Gallery will house "Up is Down: Mid-Century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl Studio."
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“Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa” — will present more than 250 pieces, many of which are rare loans that have never been transported to the U.S. before.”
But the big dog this year in Chicago museums has been the bold and broadly invigorating yearlong Art Design Chicago initiative backed by the Terra Foundation for American Art (with help from the Driehaus Foundation). The ADC imprimatur (and funding!) was behind dozens of exhibitions, scores of public events, and reams of new research all finding fresh or deeper takes on the city’s visual arts history. - Steve Johnson
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"The Block Museum has a record of bringing attention and new research to under-recognized subjects. While Morton and Millie and the designers at their firm were highly regarded during their firm’s heyday, their work has been largely overlooked in the histories of design, art, and film." -Steven Heller
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"The late 1950’s and early 1960’s marked a time of experimentation in the world of film, and this avant-garde spirit made its way into the burgeoning television advertising industry. The Goldsholls were at the forefront of this innovative movement." - Thomas Wall
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"Northwestern’s Block Museum of Art brings together the multidisciplinary work of the Goldsholl Design studio— rarely seen films and light experiments, posters, print advertisements and package design that include widely known logos such as for 7UP, the Motorola M and the Vienna Beef hot dog with fork." Vasia Rigou
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