I love stories like illustrator Wayne Brezinka’s. He grows up in Minnesota (of all places), his dad actually encourages him to draw (pretty cool dad), he takes art classes (probably paid by dad), and now he’s an award-winning artist that has been commissioned by The New York Times, Neiman Marcus, The Johnny Cash family, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. Now, he’s coming to Louisville to talk about his commissioned poster that he did for Actor’s Theatre for the 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays.
Actor’s officially unveiled the poster in November 2011. Brezinka said, “It’s always a thrill for me to receive a new commission. As I began to read more about the specifics of this particular assignment and the words “anything goes,” I was in heaven. Theatre, the Largest American playwright festival, illustration and anything goes? A dream job! I’m honored to be a part of this year’s 36th Annual Humana Festival.” Brezinka joins a prestigious list of artists that were chosen to illustrate the Humana Festival poster including Richard Wilkinson, Michael Glenwood, Brian Cronin, Josh Cochran, and many others.
Brezinka assembling the poster.
Brezinka, who now lives in Nashville, starts with a traditional sketch and then the assemblage begins with his varied collection of vintage newspapers, magazines and bits of everything else. Nothing is created on the computer. “The only thing I put together in Photoshop is a template,” he says. Part of the charm of Brezinka’s work is the hidden words that peek out between paint and glue. In the poster for Actor’s you will find the words “newcomer”, “Alice and Jer” a snippet of the book cover “Anything Can Happen” from the Alice and Jerry primary readers of the 1940’s and of course “Broadway” which is literally as plain as the nose on the playwright’s face. These are just some of the details that Brezinka uses to interpret the spirit of the Humana Festival.
The Louisville Graphic Design Association (LGDA) presents Wayne Brezinka at the Green Building on Thursday, Feb. 9th at 6 p.m. Cash bar and appetizers. Register for the event at http://lgda-waynebrezinka.eventbrite.com/.
For more information on Wayne Brezinka go to brezinkadesign.com.
The Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actor’s Theatre runs February 26 – April 15, 2012.
photos: courtesy of Wayne Brezinka's website
