New York Jewish Week via JTA Most New Yorkers recognize the “I love New York” slogan, which can be found on everything from coffee mugs to snowballs to boxer shorts.
However, fewer may recognize the man behind the logo, Milton Glaser. One of the most prolific graphic designers of the 20th century, his designs have helped shape the New York experience over the past half century.
A new exhibition at Gramercy Gallery at the College of Visual Arts, “SVA Milton: The Legacy of Milton Glaser,” attempts to capture the process and legacy of the designer, who was a professor at the school from 1960 until 2017.
The exhibition invites visitors to explore the amount of graphic designs – and Glaser designs in particular – that shape our every day. Among the exhibits from Glaser’s impressive collection of work are album covers, the “Mad Men” poster, the covers of New York magazine (Glasser co-founded the magazine in 1968), the Brooklyn Brewery logo, the DC Comics logo, the Celebrate Israel Parade logo and much more.
“There are some things that people have constantly interacted with over the course of their lives — you know, a million times — but may not even have realized that it was Milton Glaser’s work,” said Beth Kleber, head of the Milton Glaser Archives at SVA, who opened in 2003.
A panel presented in the exhibition explains Glaser’s pedagogy, “Art for Life” – his belief in building a shared experience in art spread across the city.
A lifelong New Yorker, Glaser was born in the Bronx in 1929. He attended High School of Music and Arts (what is now LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts) and graduated from Cooper Union College in 1951. He co-founded the High School of Music and Dramatic Arts. Influential Push Pin Studios set in 1954, and throughout his career, Glaser has shown his love for the city through his designs.
“It’s really profound,” Kleber said, reflecting on how much his work has affected New York and its culture over the past half century. “New York City was very important to him. It gave him the excitement, all the intellectual and cultural stimulation you get from living here. It is the foundation of so much of his work.”
Glaser was Jewish, though he didn’t discuss the matter much. However, many of his design ideas came from his Jewish background, and the idea that he had never “felt comfortable in any culture,” he said in a 2009 interview with Hadassah Magazine.
Taking up much of one of the rooms in the gallery, Glaser’s entertainment desk showcases the way Glaser found design in everything from shells to a pencil case to coins and stamps. In a section titled The Work Behind the Action, viewers can see early drafts of the various poster editions made throughout Glaser’s career. The city – all the different things and ideas it contains – come to life on Glaser’s pages through this visualization of his creative process.
A tribute to Milton Glaser’s life and work, the Gramercy Gallery at the School of Visual Arts showcases his love for New York, complete with a wall covered in the famous logo he designed in the back of a taxi in 1976. (Julia Gergely/Via JTA)
Glaser died on June 26, 2020, on his 91st birthday.
“It was really hard when we were all distracted and mostly working from home to celebrate it in a way that felt really meaningful,” Kleber said. “Once we returned to the office, we felt we had an opportunity to present his work in a way that most people could benefit from.”
Milton Glaser designs came from a deep love and appreciation for the city, and championed the idea that art could be found anywhere. As The New York Times wrote on Milton Glaser’s 90th birthday, “Nobody loves New York like Milton Glaser.” (Cosmos Sarchiapone / via JTA)
Another part of the gallery is set up almost like a miniature city block, so that all Glaser designs can be given their own context. A temporary book stand displays his book jackets; Next door is a restaurant-like kiosk with labels for its food and wine. A bogus record store houses dozens of album covers he’s made over the years.
“It’s a really fun way to experience his work, and put it in a real-world context,” Kleber said. “It was a way to better present it, or re-introduce it to students and people who might learn about some things but don’t know who’s responsible for it.”
“SVA❤️ Milton: The Legacy of Milton Glaser” is on display until January 15, 2022 at the SVA Gramercy Gallery at 209 East 23rd Street. Pre-registration is required.