Jeff Gates

Bio:

Jeff Gates is an artist and writer interested in the intersection of art and American culture. He is the founder of the Chamomile Tea Party,... where he’s created over 300 posters on the sorry state of American political discourse. Graphic design historian and designer Steven Heller has called him “the new John Heartfield.” Born and raised in Los Angeles, he now lives in Washington, DC. In 1972, he took the first computer graphics course ever taught at UCLA with filmmaker John Whitney, Sr. After graduation, he taught college photography and computer graphics for 23 years before becoming the Lead Producer of New Media Initiatives at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He now devotes his time to creating photo illustrations and writing. Public engagement is essential to Gates’ work. From 1983 to 1993, he photographed the construction of the Century Freeway (I-105), the “last freeway” to be built in Los Angeles. In his documentary, “In Our Path,” he wrote about the social and economic effects of the freeway on those who lived and worked in the corridor. In 2012, he was the first artist to buy ad space in the Washington, DC Metro, where he placed his posters about the lack of Congressional bipartisanship on platform advertising signs. Standing next to these “ads,” he engaged commuters about the issues these images highlighted. Gates’ writing and art have appeared in publications such as “The Washington Post,” “The Atlantic,” “The Nation,” “Smithsonian Magazine,” “Communication Arts,” “PRINT,” “AdWeek,” and “National Public Radio.” He is the author of the book “Uneventful: The Rise of Photography,” which explores the evolution of photography from the 19th to the 21st centuries.Read More

Category:

Art / Illustration

Company:

Chamomile Tea Party

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