This is a various 70s piece, titled 5TH SMASH WEEK. 24" x 36"
This is one called BAD GEORGIA ROAD (24" x 36").
I am a child of the 1970s. When I was in the crib, I used to cry for the movie section of the newspaper and my dad, getting ready to go out and serve on the Atlanta police force, would provide it to me. Then I'd be quiet. This was my comics section, the thing that got me excited to be awake and alive. Movie ads got me to the movies, and the movies changed my life. Later on into my childhood, I would craft what I called my "movie books"--many editions of stapled-together pages, with ads from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution cut out and affixed onto any sort of paper, by all means necessary--glue, tape, staples. These books have since disappeared.
When I was in my 20s, I worked as a copy boy for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On my off hours, I would visit the microfilm department and peruse the movie sections for each week of the 1970s. I made copies of the pages I liked. By the end of this little project, I had over 400 pages of ads, from Jan 2, 1970 to Dec 31, 1977 (I wasn't able to get '78 or '79, unfortunately).
Recently, I have started making collages of these ads. I have done seven pieces thus far. Each piece is done on a very thin Fredrix canvas board, but the more expensive ones are done on wood-framed canvas that's ready for hanging. I work mainly in two sizes: 24" x 36" (which is currently going for $300, 350 on wood frame), and 18" x 24" (currently priced at $250, 300 on wood frame--both prices do not include shipping costs). I can do smaller pieces, too, which would naturally be cheaper. I could also go larger, too! All ads are taken from the original microfilm prints and are Atlanta-specific, copied onto high quality paper, hand cut, and placed on the board. For each piece, I cut out generally three times as much as I need, just so I have some choices. Great care is taken not to leave any dead white space; also, I try not to repeat any titles. Each piece is coated with only one coat of decopage (any more ruins the visual quality) and comes with a metal loop affixed to the back, so that it may be quickly hung (no need to buy a frame for the ones on cnavas board, though it's certainly an option). It is a dream of mine to do a whole head-to-toe canvas, or even a wall collage of these ads. Call me if you want it, too.
Each piece is signed, dated, numbered and titled on the back. I choose my titles based on something on the piece I center in on...a bit of ad copy or whatnot. It takes generally about three days to do each work, given the collating, copying, cutting, placement, and finishing.
The pieces can be themed. I can do:
Horror
Science fiction
Westerns
Oscar movies
Art/foreign films
Blockbusters
Blaxploitation
Hicksploitation
Martial arts
Comedy
Sleaze/porn
Drive-ins
Music
Atlanta events (Braves games, rodeos, concerts, plays)
Animals
Cars and motorcycles
And I can include specific titles, if provided and available (BTW, I search out ads from 1978 and 1979 from other sources, if deemed necessary).
The possibilities are endless, really, and no two are every going to come out alike. Incidentally, when I'm done and the decopage is dry, a small number of the ads take on this aged, yellowed look. This adds another visual level to the piece. I prefer to work only in black and white, but if you wanted a certain color paper used, this could certainly be arranged (though it would add to the original price).
Need I say this? These would be TOTALLY AMAZING Christmas gifts!! Place your orders now!
Again:
SIZES and PRICES:
24" x 42" (on canvas ready for hanging): $350, plus shipping if necessary;
24" x 36" (flat canvas board) -- $250 plus shipping, if necessary
18" x 24" (flat canvas board) -- $175 plus shipping, if necessary
Of course, I can do pieces that are of smaller size and of more manageable price. But I believe bigger is better here in order to get the sort of dazzlement I'm aiming for. Anyway, if interested, contact me VIA E-MAIL at jdtreadway@gmail.com or friend me on Facebook.
Here are some photos of past work, just to give you some ideas on the possibilities. Click on each piece it you want to see it enlarged:
This one is called THE RIALTO, and consists of ads for movies that played at the old Rialto movie theater in downtown Atlanta, which is now houses one of the great performance stages in the city. These are mostly action or blaxploitation films here, 24 x 40" wood frame canvas. Here are some detail shots:
TRIPLE BLOOD TRIP is the title here; it's 24" x 36" and is all horror/sci-fi. All pieces are signed, titled, numbered, and dated on the back.
Another various piece, 24 x 36"and titled HELD OVER.
Another horror/sci-fi one, called SUPERSTARS OF SHOCK. 24 x 36"
An all sleaze/porn one, titled ALL GIRL ACTION. 18 x 24"
An all sci-fi one, called WE ARE NOT ALONE. 18 x 24.
This one is called ATLANTA IN THE 70s, and includes music shows, car shows, rodeos, political and movie ads. 24 x 36.
Here I am mugging shamelessly for the camera at Atlanta's Manuel's Tavern as I deliver a piece of movie art to my much loved cousin Greg for his birthday!
A helluva annum. Biopics, monster movies, sophisticate comedy, musicals, and black film all take a huge leap forward this year. Yet, for me, this one film by these brotherly geniuses, these absurd masters of the stage who learned equally to master the screen...well, this film became the go-to wackjob that spoofs war and politics and other heady subjects so brilliantly that it would remain relevant, really, always. I love all Marx Brothers movies, at least up until the mid- to late-40s. But this is THE one. The big ape, the chilly queen, the gluttonous king, the nostalgic Frenchman, the hopeful dancers and the wiseacre social scenesters all remain attractive...but none can best these four nutballs. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.
PICTURE: DUCK SOUP (US, Leo McCarey)
(2nd: King Kong (US, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack), followed by: Zero for Conduct (France, Jean Vigo) Queen Christina (US, Rouben Mamoulian) 42nd Street (US, Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley) Dinner at Eight (US, George Cukor) Design for Living (US, Ernst Lubischt) The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Germany, Fritz Lang) Sons of the Desert (US, William A. Seiter) She Done Him Wrong (US, Lowell Sherman) The Private Life of Henry VIII (UK, Alexander Korda) Hallelujah, I'm a Bum! (US, Lewis Milestone) The Emperor Jones (US, Dudley Murphy) Lady for a Day (US, Frank Capra) The Invisible Man (US, James Whale) The Mystery of the Wax Museum (US, Michael Curtiz))
ACTOR: Charles Laughton, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (2nd:Groucho Marx, Duck Soup, followed by: Paul Robeson, The Emperor Jones; Werner Baxter, 42nd Street; Fredric March, Design for Living; Al Jolson, Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!; Gary Cooper, Design for Living; Otto Wernicke, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse; Lionel Atwill, The Mystery of the Wax Museum)
ACTRESS: Greta Garbo, QUEEN CHRISTINA (2nd: Mae West, She Done Him Wrong, followed by: Miriam Hopkins, Design for Living; Katherine Hepburn, Morning Glory; Barbara Stanwyck, The Bitter Tea of General Yen; May Robson, Lady for a Day; Janet Gaynor, State Fair; Fay Wray, King Kong; Ruby Keeler, 42nd Street)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: John Barrymore,DINNER AT EIGHT(2nd: Chico Marx, Duck Soup, followed by: Adolph Menjou, Morning Glory; Frank Morgan, Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!; Frank McHugh, The Mystery of the Wax Museum; Ned Sparks, 42nd Street; Eugene Pallette, The Kennel Murder Case)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Marie Dressler, DINNER AT EIGHT(2nd: Jean Harlow, Dinner at Eight, followed by: Margaret Dumont, Duck Soup; Una O'Connor, The Invisible Man; Joan Blondell, Footlight Parade; Spring Byington, Little Women; Ginger Rogers, 42nd Street)
DIRECTOR: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, KING KONG (2nd: Jean Vigo, Zero for Conduct, followed by: Rouben Mamoulian, Queen Christina; Leo McCarey, Duck Soup; George Cukor, Dinner at Eight; Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley, 42nd Street)
SCREENPLAY: Burt Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, DUCK SOUP (2nd: Frances Marion, Herman J. Mackiewicz and Donald Ogden Stuart, Dinner at Eight, followed by: Jean Vigo, Zero for Conduct; Ben Hecht, Design for Living; Rian James and James Seymour, 42nd Street; Norbert Jacques, Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse; Mae West, Harvey Thew and John Bright, She Done Him Wrong)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: William H. Daniels, QUEEN CHRISTINA (2nd: Boris Kaufman, Zero for Conduct, followed by: William H. Daniels, Dinner at Eight; Karl Vash and Fritz Arno Wagner, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse; Sol Polito, 42nd Street; Joseph Walker, The Bitter Tea of General Yen; George Barnes, Footlight Parade)
ART DIRECTION: DINNER AT EIGHT, Queen Christina, Little Women, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, Footlight Parade
COSTUME DESIGN: QUEEN CHRISTINA, Duck Soup, Dinner at Eight, She Done Him Wrong, The Private Life of Henry VIII SPECIAL EFFECTS: KING KONG, The Invisible Man
MAKEUP: THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, Queen Christina,The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Another landmark year for the horror genre with Vampyr, The Mummy, Island of Lost Souls, The Most Dangerous Game, and James Whale's brilliant The Old Dark House making deep impressions. Still, Tod Browning's truly one-of-a-kind film has to emerge victorious, even over the best of Lubischt, Dreyer, Renoir, Hawks, and von Sternberg. Also a great year for short films with Laurel and Hardy delivering their very finest, narrowly beating out a controversial W.C. Fields short, Shirley Temple's film debut, and an impressive show of early Technicolor in Over The Counter. Over in animation, meanwhile, Disney battles it out with the Fleischers and though Flowers and Trees delivers eye-popping color, it's no match for the powerhouse team of Cab Calloway and Betty Boop. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.
PICTURE: FREAKS (US, Tod Browning)
(2nd: Vampyr (Denmark, Carl Th. Dreyer), followed by: Trouble in Paradise (US, Ernst Lubischt) Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation (US, Howard Hawks) Boudu Saved From Drowning (France, Jean Renoir) The Old Dark House (US, James Whale) Shanghai Express (US, Josef von Sternberg) I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (US, Mervyn Le Roy) Grand Hotel (US, Edmond Goulding) The Most Dangerous Game (US, Irving Michel and Ernest B. Schoedsack) Horse Feathers (US, Norman Z. McLeod))
ACTOR: Paul Muni, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (2nd:Herbert Marshall, Trouble in Paradise, followed by: John Barrymore, Grand Hotel; Michel Simon, Boudu Saved From Drowning; Charles Laughton, Island of Lost Souls; Paul Muni, Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation)
ACTRESS: Miriam Hopkins, TROUBLE IN PARADISE (2nd: Marlene Dietrich, Shanghai Express, followed by: Helen Hayes, A Farewell to Arms; Constance Bennett, What Price Hollywood?; Irene Dunne, Back Street)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Lionel Barrymore, GRAND HOTEL(2nd:Edward Everett Horton, Trouble in Paradise, followed by: George Raft, Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation; Charles Ruggles, Trouble in Paradise; Ernest Thesiger, The Old Dark House)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Eva Moore, THE OLD DARK HOUSE (2nd: Kay Francis, Trouble in Paradise, followed by: Joan Blondell, Three on a Match; Ann Dvorak, Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation; Mary Astor, Red Dust)
DIRECTOR: Tod Browning, FREAKS (2nd: Carl Th. Dreyer, Vampyr, followed by Ernst Lubischt, Trouble in Paradise; Howard Hawks, Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation; Jean Renoir, Boudu Saved from Drowning; James Whale, The Old Dark House)
SCREENPLAY: Samson Raphaelson and Grover Jones, TROUBLE IN PARADISE (2nd: Rene Fauchois, Boudu Saved From Drowning, followed by: Ben Hecht, Seaton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, W.R. Burnett, Scarface, or: The Shame of a Nation; Vicki Baum, Grand Hotel; Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins, Freaks; Harry Hervey and Jules Furthman, Shanghai Express)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Rudolf Mate and Louis Nee, VAMPYR (2nd: Lee Garmes and James Wong Howe, Shanghai Express, followed by: William H. Daniels, Grand Hotel; Arthur Edeson, The Old Dark House; Karl Struss, The Sign of the Cross)
ART DIRECTION: SHANGHAI EXPRESS, The Sign of the Cross, Grand Hotel, Trouble in Paradise
COSTUME DESIGN: SHANGHAI EXPRESS, The Sign of the Cross, Trouble in Paradise, Grand Hotel
MAKEUP: THE MUMMY, Island of Lost Souls, Freaks, The Old Dark House
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