The Present America?

December 1st, 2009

(Second in a three post series (Parts 1 and 3)

A few years ago, the producer and host of one of my favorite urban podcasts, Duncan Crary commissioned artist, Ken Avidor to do a panel representing the same intersection Robert Crumb depicted in his ‘A Short History of America‘ series as it would look today, nearly 30 years after the last panel in the original series.

Here’s what came up with. (Note the drive through only fast-food joint, the obese man in the electric wheel chair and the mega-mall surrounded by a vast parking lot in the background.)

This panel is the header for the KunstlerCast podcast Kunstler does each week with host Duncan Crary.  Duncan and Jim talk about Crumb on KunstlerCast 11: Picturing Suburbia.

(Post updated March 29., 2010)

8 thoughts on “The Present America?

  1. Not that it really matters, but I (Duncan Crary) commissioned Ken Avidor to create that image. The concept was mine. I worked with Ken on a few versions before we created this one. Actually Ken filled in the colors on the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt, but for some reason they don't appear in the banner. I'll have to fix that one day. The money to pay for this piece was also min, not JHK's. This image is on our official postcards, which are pretty nifty.

  2. Not that it really matters, but I (Duncan Crary) commissioned Ken Avidor to create that image. The concept was mine. I worked with Ken on a few versions before we created this one. Actually Ken filled in the colors on the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt, but for some reason they don’t appear in the banner. I’ll have to fix that one day. The money to pay for this piece was also min, not JHK’s. This image is on our official postcards, which are pretty nifty.

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