The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago held their “Revel in the White City” virtual simulation at the museum on May 19 and May 20 to a packed auditorium. It was spectacular. Making the event even more festive were a set of posters designed by Chicago artist David Lee Csicsko, titled “Icons of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.” Greeting cards of the set of eight images were available for sale at the museum.
Csicsko is an acclaimed artist and graphic designer whose distinctive work is instantly recognizable to Chicagoans. His quirky images decorate the Belmont El station, the Chicago Public Library, the 2006 Gay Games, stained glass mosaics in the hospital chapel at the Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Behind the Lions, a children’s book for the Art Institute. His work is known nationally and internationally, as well. In 2012, Csicsko designed holiday displays at the White House.
The set of eight cards feature stylized portraits of six architects of the Fair: Daniel Burnham (Director of Works); Frederick Law Olmsted (landscaping), Charles Atwood (Palace of Fine Arts), Sophia Hayden (Woman’s Building), Louis Sullivan (Transportation Building), and Frank Lloyd Wright. The final two cards depict the entrance of the Palace of Fine Arts (now the MSI) and the Statue of the Republic.
The images are colorful and playful; Olmsted has a flower set in his hair and Wright’s jacket sports one of his own designs. One quibble is that the image of the Statue of the Republic depicts not the original golden lady, but the smaller reproduction installed later in Jackson Park. As we’ve mentioned before (and before), there is a notable difference in the what she holds in her left hand in each statue. Other visual designers also have made the same switch.
The cards are available for sale in the Museum Store located in the lower lobby of the MSI (no ticket required). The limited-edition product does not appear to be available through the museum’s online store.
images copyright David Lee Csicsko
