Internationally acclaimed animation icon and Oscar nominee Bill Plympton will hold a free screening and discussion at MIAD on Tuesday, Nov. 7, from 7-8:30 p.m.
“Bill Plympton is a deeply respected icon within the international animation community,” said Foundations Professor James Barany, who teaches time-based media (video and animation) and invited Plympton to the college. “His sublime hand-drawn cartoons and animation are an amalgamation of comedic staging, precision timing and pure wit. His work is founded within whimsical and humorous ideals, but often digresses into the unconscionable and incomprehensible world that only Plympton can create.”
Plympton’s long career includes working as a New-York based illustrator, cartoonist, producer and director of short and feature animation films and of live action films. His work has appeared in animation and film festivals around the world, on MTV and in commercials.
The Nov. 7 evening program, Plympton’s only appearance in the Midwest, includes the following award-winning works: Oscar-nominated, multiple prize winner “Guard Dog” (2004) and its sequel “Guide Dog” (2006); a pencil test of “Idiots and Angels,” a new feature in production; “The Fan and the Flower” (2005); “Draw” (1993); “Twenty-Five Ways to Quit Smoking” (1989); Oscar-nominated and multiple prize winner “Your Face” (1987); “Drew Carey’s Green Screen – the Man who Stole Florida”; “Don’t Download this Song,” a music video for Weird Al; and an excerpt from the feature-length “Hair High” (2004), also the winner of six awards.
As befitting a college of art and design, Plympton’s MIAD visit will include a master’s class demonstration to all time-based media students and a critique of advanced student work.
In addition, selected works by Plympton will be a part of MIAD’s time-based media exhibition, “Calling Forth Certain Experiences…,” which runs from Oct. 31 – Dec. 16. Curated by MIAD Time-Based Media Professor Jamal Currie, it also includes the work of Barany among 25 other time-based media artists.
For more information on Plympton, visit www.plymptoons.com.
