Artspace.com Launches Signed, Limited Edition of Tomi Ungerer's "Eat"
New York—January 2015—Artspace.com is proud to celebrate artist Tomi Ungerer’s first US exhibition, Tomi Ungerer: All in One, at The Drawing Center (January 16-March 22) with the release of a signed, limited edition print created by the artist. Titled Eat, the edition is a reprint of his iconic 1967 poster depicting Uncle Sam thrusting the Statue of Liberty down the throat of an Asian man—a violent visualization of America forcing its ideals on the Vietnamese people. Available exclusively at Artspace.com, the drawing is in an edition of 50, priced at $500, with proceeds benefiting The Drawing Center.
During the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Ungerer moved away from advertising and editorial work to focus his illustrations on responding to racism, fascism and the war. Eat is part of this new direction—a series of brutal anti-Vietnam War posters and other political criticisms. Although coveted today, not everyone was in support of these drawings, even those on the left.
“I did my Vietnam War posters originally for the peace movement,” said Ungerer to Andrew Goldstein of Artspace in a recent interview, “and they were turned down—they thought they were too harsh. So, I printed them out of my own pocket and distributed them on my own through all the poster shops. They went everywhere—you can even see one of them in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.”
“One of the world’s most beloved children’s book illustrators, Tomi Ungerer is an artist whose extraordinary body of work transcends easy categories, encompassing both biting political lampoons and sensationally provocative drawings that are decidedly adults-only,” said Artspace CEO Catherine Levene. “To mark Tomi’s landmark retrospective at the Drawings Center, we were proud to collaborate with the artist and the institution to re-release this historic piece, an icon of the American antiwar movement.”
About Tomi Ungerer
Tomi Ungerer is best known for his witty children's books, as well as being a successful political commentator, prolific writer, and erotic artist. Born in Strasbourg in 1931, he first gained notoriety after moving to New York in 1956 and creating illustrations for magazines such as Esquire, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, The Village Voice, and The New York Times. Ungerer is now internationally renowned for his etched caricatures imbued with sharp social satire—a style maintained in his children’s books, which he began to publish with Harper and Row in 1957. These books include such fantastical tales as “The Mellops Go Flying,” (1957) about a family of daring pigs, “The Three Robbers” (1962) a classic French and German story about bandits made honest by an orphan girl, and “Moon Man” (1967) about the man in the moon’s adventure to Earth.
About Artspace.com
Artspace.com is the leading online marketplace for contemporary art, offering collectors and aspiring collectors the opportunity to discover, learn about and collect art from the top contemporary artists in the world at insider prices. Artspace curators collaborate with internationally renowned artists, museums, galleries and art fairs to provide the world's best collection of contemporary art online, in a single location. Artspace serves as a trusted art advisor offering information and education on every featured artist and work on the site in order to provide members with the details they need to make informed and confident purchase decisions. Membership to Artspace is free, prices start at $200 and every sale of artwork on the site supports an artist, cultural institution or non-profit organization.
About The Drawing Center
The Drawing Center is the only not-for-profit fine arts institution in the country to focus solely on the exhibition of drawings, both historical and contemporary. It was established in 1977 to provide opportunities for emerging and under-recognized artists; to demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawings throughout history; and to stimulate public dialogue on issues of art and culture.
