Jason Munn
Encyclopedia
Jason Munn is an American
Graphic and Poster Artist. He is best known for creating posters for many Indie-Rock bands. His posters can be found online and at many music festivals around the United States
, in modern art museums, and as well as the covers of CD albums. In 2010, Chronicle Books
published a book called "The Small Stakes" that focuses on Munn's poster work form 2002-2009.
. At a young age, Jason Munn was drawing all the time. As a teenager Munn began skateboarding, and started noticing his love for art and design. He was influenced by skateboard graphics, and the covers of CD cases. Jason Munn went to school at University of Wisconsin-Madison for graphic design. In 2002, Jason Munn moved to Oakland,California. He started as an amateur designer making collage-based flyers for the small Berkeley
club The Ramp, when he first moved to California. Jason Munn's artwork started getting recognized after the band Death Cab For Cutie
, asked him to create posters and t-shirts for them. He went on to create striking pieces that have become a part of the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
and the Denver Art Museum
.
imagery to create something new. Munn rarely use abstract imagery now, but he does work with a lot of common objects, changing them in some way to get a different meaning from the objects and to relate them to the bands. His work usually consist of the same objects; records, cameo-style profiles/heads,nature images,television
, telephones. Munn uses these same objects to create continuity in his artwork.
, The Books Chronicle Books
, Criterion Collection,Death Cab For Cutie
,Flight Of The Conchords
, Insound Levi's,Mark Kozelek
, Modest Mouse
,The National New York Times Magazine, Noise Pop Festival Patagonia, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
, Sonic Youth
, and Wired
.
"The Small Stakes", which is also the name of his design studio. He continues to do create poster work for bands and festivals. In the near future he will begin collaborating with the graphic artis Dirk Fowler.
In 2010, Chronicle Books published "The Small Stakes" which focuses on Jason's posters created from 2002-2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Graphic and Poster Artist. He is best known for creating posters for many Indie-Rock bands. His posters can be found online and at many music festivals around the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in modern art museums, and as well as the covers of CD albums. In 2010, Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.The company was established in 1968 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of...
published a book called "The Small Stakes" that focuses on Munn's poster work form 2002-2009.
Beginnings as an Artist
Jason Munn was born in Neenah, WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. At a young age, Jason Munn was drawing all the time. As a teenager Munn began skateboarding, and started noticing his love for art and design. He was influenced by skateboard graphics, and the covers of CD cases. Jason Munn went to school at University of Wisconsin-Madison for graphic design. In 2002, Jason Munn moved to Oakland,California. He started as an amateur designer making collage-based flyers for the small Berkeley
Berkeley
-United Kingdom:* Berkeley, Gloucestershire** Berkeley Castle**Berkeley * Berkeley Square, London* Berkeley Square, Bristol-United States of America:*Berkeley, California, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area...
club The Ramp, when he first moved to California. Jason Munn's artwork started getting recognized after the band Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, asked him to create posters and t-shirts for them. He went on to create striking pieces that have become a part of the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
and the Denver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
.
Style
Jason Munn's style is silk-screen poster art. He uses bold, geometric designs to create images that in a way represent the band, or the festival he is creating it for. His early work used a lot of found imagery or combined multiple pieces of abstractAbstract
Abstract may refer to:* Abstract , a summary of a legal document* Abstract , in scientific publishing* Abstract art, artistic works that don't attempt to represent reality or concrete subjects* Abstract structure in mathematics...
imagery to create something new. Munn rarely use abstract imagery now, but he does work with a lot of common objects, changing them in some way to get a different meaning from the objects and to relate them to the bands. His work usually consist of the same objects; records, cameo-style profiles/heads,nature images,television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, telephones. Munn uses these same objects to create continuity in his artwork.
Posters and Clients
His posters have become regular fixtures at poster conventions like Flatstock, but more so at the merchandise stalls for Indie-Rock bands making their way across the country in a tour bus. They are no longer used to advertise concerts but have become a way for bands, most of which are fighting sagging album sales, to offer their fans something extra. Some of his most loyal clients include: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema,Andrew BirdAndrew Bird
Andrew Bird is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.- Early life and the Bowl of Fire :...
, The Books Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children.The company was established in 1968 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1999 it was bought by Nion McEvoy, great-grandson of...
, Criterion Collection,Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
,Flight Of The Conchords
Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand-based comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series, which premiered in 2007 on HBO, also called Flight of the Conchords.They were named...
, Insound Levi's,Mark Kozelek
Mark Kozelek
Mark Kozelek is an American singer/songwriter Producer and frontman of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters.-History:...
, Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
,The National New York Times Magazine, Noise Pop Festival Patagonia, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, and Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
.
Present Day
Jason Munn now lives in Oakland, California. He designs under the pseudonymPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"The Small Stakes", which is also the name of his design studio. He continues to do create poster work for bands and festivals. In the near future he will begin collaborating with the graphic artis Dirk Fowler.
Awards and Reconginiton
Munn's art work has appeared in exhibits and publications around the United States. A selection of his posters are part of the permanent collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Denver Art Museum.In 2010, Chronicle Books published "The Small Stakes" which focuses on Jason's posters created from 2002-2009.