CSO MusicNOW — In Context Poster, Framed

Online exclusive! This product is sourced from a third-party vendor and will ship separately from the rest of your purchase.

Designed in celebration of CSO MusicNOW's 25th season, In Context is the final installment in a set of four posters by Chicago artist Donovan Foote inspired by the unique programming of this series.

Artist Statement —

When we watch musicians perform, we are seeing and hearing the culmination of time, energy, study and practice. We become familiar with the front-facing appearance of the instrument and the audience-facing appearance of the musician, but we may not consider the context. I’ve always considered post-modern visual art to be a breaking down of tradition. So here I wanted to show the back of the instrument — the part that may rest against a musician’s body or is set on a chair during a break in practice. Along with this element is the story of the luthier who crafted the instrument using an entirely different set of skills and tools. For this post-modern American suite of music, this image tries to tell the story of how we arrived here from different perspectives.

Donovan Foote is a local artist, illustrator and graphic designer with a passion for blending contemporary aesthetics and retro timelessness. He specializes in the interaction of type and image while producing work in many mediums. His work employs the intricacy of the ink-painted line, the beautiful grit of paint and collage, the imperfections of hand-lettering and the use of fantastically detailed illustrations to animate an idea. Over the years, he has worked with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Theatre School at DePaul University, instrument manufacturer Conn-Selmer and the Chicago International Film Festival. As an amateur musician who enjoys building instruments, he is pleased to present these posters for the 25th season of CSO MusicNOW.