I have been collecting silkscreen rock posters by Chicago artists for about 15 years now, ever since I first saw posters by Steve W. appear on walls in Wicker Park. The Chicago Reader has an excellent review of 17 of the best screen printers working in Chicago today, including my friend John Solimine. I honestly think he’s the best there is, because he almost always creates original illustrations rather than rely on mere juxtaposition, he focuses on characters as well as type, and always creates an emotion.
All hail John Solimine. Here’s the Reader’s take on him:
John Solimine
DBA Spike Press
Printing since 2001
Specialties Concert posters
Collaborators “I always rely on advice from friends when
designing, and until recently, I also printed everything myself, but I
have used both Screwball and Delicious to print some of my last few
jobs for me. I still plan to print smaller runs but I’ll leave the
bigger jobs to those guys.”
Describe your style. “A frothy brew of children’s-book illustration from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, UPA cartoons, and Marvel comics.”
Any local screen printers you admire? “Delicious Design League, Crosshair, everyone at the Bird Machine, Screwball—all doing great work and all nice folks to boot.”
Clients “Metro, Schubas, MP Shows, Lumpen Times, GLOW magazine (it’s the Canadian version of Allure magazine here, but at first I thought it was for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), Leo Burnett, Draft FCB, the National.”
Gallery shows Gold Star, Country Club Chicago, the Goodfoot in
Portland, Art Center of South Florida Gallery, ArtsPlace in Lexington,
Kentucky
Where to buy His Web site
Prices Posters run $15-$25.
On the Web spikepress.com