http://www.johnalvinart.com/ArtistBio.aspx?ArtistId=1
Considered the pre-eminent movie campaign artist of the past 35 years, Alvin’s career began in 1974 with his creation of the iconic movie poster for Mel Brook’s “Blazing Saddles”. He most recently contributed design ideas for the campaign for Disney Studio’s “Enchanted.” In a career that encompassed multiple projects for such directors as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Blake Edwards, Mel Brooks and Ridley Scott, Alvin was considered by many studios as the go-
to artist for movie poster and campaign art. John Alvin said that his work “created the promise of a great experience” and in that he never failed.
Alvin and his wife, Andrea, had recently relocated to New York's Hudson Valley from Los Angeles in order to be closer to their daughter and only child, Farah, a Broadway actress. John Alvin said that as a child he eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Sunday paper so that he could peruse the ads for the new movies playing at the local theaters. He was enamored with the magic of film at an early age and would create art inspired largely by his love of film. That passion led him to the Art Center College of Design where he met his wife, Andrea (also a student at Art Center) from which he graduated in the early 1970s.
His big break came with the job to create the movie poster for Mel Brook’s “Blazing Saddles” in 1974. This campaign led to Alvin creating the images for numerous other Brook's films including "Young Frankenstein". His prominence in this medium was soon after established with his creation of the movie posters for Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner,” Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial” and Blake Edward’s “Victor/Victoria.” Not on
ly did Alvin create the movie posters for those particular films, but he also created many subsequent iconic film posters. In all, Alvin created the posters for over 135 movies in a 35 year career. He is considered to be an innovator in this genre.
Alvin's work is currently represented in several art galleries nationwide where his original paintings, drawings and limited edition fine art reproductions are displayed. In his recent work, he continued to create iconic images for contemporary films like the Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean series.Of the more than 120 film campaigns he has created, 'E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial' is the most satisfying to Alvin, and appropriately so, as the movie is one of the most successful in cinema history. In addition to receiving the Hollywood Reporter Key Art Awards’ grand prize, Alvin's E.T. was the only movie art ever to be honored with the Saturn Award from The Academy
of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films.
Alvin has also produced many special works for Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Star Wars phenomenon. His Star Wars Concert and Star Wars Tenth Anniversary poster are among the most collectible Star Wars art in the market today. Additionally, The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., exhibited Alvin's 'The Phantom of the Paradise' as one of the best posters of the 20th Century.
The ability to infuse art with feeling was one reason Disney wanted Alvin for The Lion King and the “adult campaigns” for many Disney animated classics. The adult campaign will usually be more elegant, more symbolic, and in Alvin's masterful hands, imbued with a moody, almost magical aura. "His work inspires us," say the Disney marketing execs. "Alvin brings emotion into his artwork that can only be captured in an illustration. We call it 'Alvinizing'."
Alvin acquired a full array of artist's skills and techniques as a student of the distinguished Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Soon thereafter, in 1974, he got his chance to put his love of entertainment art and his artist training to work by creating the campaign art for Mel Brook's 'Blazing Saddles'. Looking back, Alvin is surprised at times to realize that he’s been creating cinema art for more than twenty-five years.
Alvin has developed and maintained a very loyal following among collectors of cinema art, making his original art and signed reproductions much sought after and treasured pieces of movie memorabilia. Truly, John Alvin belongs to a very special and very short list of cinema art masters whose works have become icons in Hollywood’s rich and colorful history. Most recently, John has been commissioned by Disney to create interpretive images for their fine art program, and he has been chosen as both the official fine artist for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the official poster artist for the 30th anniversary Star Wars Celebration in 2007. Clearly at the top of his game, John Alvin continues to increase the number of his admirers and collectors, not only as they look back on his substantial body of work, but also as they look to newest interpretive cinema art
Hi - The claim that "the Smithsonian Museum...exhibited Alvin's 'The Phantom of the Paradise' as one of the best posters of the 20th Century," while it's all over the net, is not really accurate. In fact, the poster was selected for inclusion in a traveling exhibition called "Images of an Era (1945-1975)," which visited several American cities and Europe under the auspices of the Smithsonian. But there was never any claim made by the Smithsonian that these were "the best" posters of the century or anything along those lines, but merely that they were representative posters from that thirty-year postwar period. That said, it's a great poster.
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