James Rizzi achieved world fame with his colorful drawings. Shortly before his death last December, he left us a work that even the masses can afford: a fully illustrated New York travel guide. We are giving away two of the guides.
Many artists have already tipped their hats to New York, belting out schmaltzy declarations of love into the microphone or capturing all the hot spots of the Big Apple from the Bronx to Miss Liberty with a brush and camera. And there are about as many travel guides about the city that never sleeps as there are yellow cabs on the streets. To stand out from the grey masses, you have to show your colors – and what better way to do that than with the artwork of New York artist James Rizzi. Shortly before his death in December 2011, he completely illustrated a New York Guide with his colorful drawings. “My New York City” contains over 1,000 tips and shows New York virgins and die-hard Big Apple fans alike the most beautiful corners of the city. Yet James Rizzi, with his eternally identical black glasses and the same worn-out hat, actually stood in contrast to his art. His drawings are paintings bursting with color and a love of detail that makes it almost impossible for the viewer to recognize every bird – one of his trademarks – in Rizzi’s pictures, even after looking at them several times. Incidentally, the American did not limit himself to canvas and paper, but lived out his creativity on everything that came before his bespectacled nose: shoes, stamps, cars, airplanes, banknotes, even a house for which Pippi Longstocking would have immediately sold her Villa Kunterbunt. The fascination: “I simply believe that people like the cheerfulness of my pictures. It makes them laugh”.
We are giving away two of James Rizzi’s colorful travel guides. You can take part using the form on the next page. The closing date for entries is 22. March 2012.
If you’re not lucky, you can buy the travel guide in bookshops: James Rizzi and Peter Bührer, “My New York City”, Marco Polo, approx. CHF 30.-
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James Rizzi in his studio in New York SoHo. “I feel like an ambassador for New York. This city doesn’t come off so well that often. But the people here are really nice.”
James Rizzi even designed an entire house. The Happy Rizzi House offers concentrated art on five floors – the work of art is located in Braunschweig, Germany, and even has its own website.
The New York artist painted a Beetle for the opening of the Rizzi House.
Visitors can get to the Happy Rizzi House in style on the colorfully decorated Rizzi bus.
In 1996, this Boeing 757 Condor taxied over the runway at Frankfurt Airport.
The hardcover edition of Rizzi’s “My New York City” (Mairdumont, approx. CHF 145.-) offers a colorful tour of the Big Apple on over 300 pages. There are all sorts of little things to discover: luggage tags, postcards, vouchers, recipes, a lounge CD, a rechargeable Metro card and much more.