Ryan Tramonte is the General Manager of French Art Network and Rue Royale Art Partners of New Orleans. With galleries in Carmel by the Sea, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; New Orleans and Key West, Florida; the company’s family of galleries represents 54 artists from across the globe. With his office in the center of the French Quarter at 541 Royal Street, Ryan has managed to surround himself with some of the most beautiful aspects of New Orleans, its artists. Artists mold the way we think and live on a daily basis, they are one of society’s most prized possessions. Ryan, himself works in all mediums, but centers his work on painting and collage.
Tom Varisco and collaborators sign "Signs of New Orleans" Thursday, November 29th at 6 p.m. Octavia Books 513 Octavia Street 504.899.7323 Free
Sign language A new book documents another unique aspect of New Orleans
From the hand-scrawled Bywater restaurant sign that says "Hot Food Dailey" to the intricate tiled "Napoleon House" lettering at the entrance to that French Quarter watering hole to the neon that says "Tujague's Est 1856" to "Tee Eva's World Famous Pies and Pralines," signs tell the story of the city's history and testify to its uniqueness.
Signs such as these -- some fading, some memorable, some not, some that will instantly stir memories of special moments, or lamentations about landmarks long gone -- are among those in "Signs of New Orleans," a new book by Tom Varisco.
"There's no such thing as a complete history of signage," said Varisco, an award-winning graphic designer, "but you do get a sense of place -- where we are, who we are."
Yes, you do. The green neon Dixie Beer sign on the cupola of the Tulane Avenue brewery, the old "Kolbs" sign on the once-famed German restaurant in the 100 block of St. Charles Avenue, the hand-painted "Dew Drop Inn" on the glass door at that famed nightspot -- how long will these images be with us?
"It is preserving something," Varisco said of the book. It's a romp, though, not a slow stroll through his fast-paced, fun book, which clearly demonstrates that New Orleans has a great sense of humor, even down to the misspellings.
Two-thirds of the photos were shot by Jackson Hill and one-third by Varisco.
"Jackson Hill is a great photographer who does it for a living; I'm a designer who likes to take photos," Varisco said.
Collaborators John Biguenet, Anne Gisleson and Nick Marinello add insightful commentary to the book.
Marinello writes: "Sign watching isn't an art, or even a hobby. It is a knack. Knowing a good sign when you see one is something special. Collected here are several images of signs from around New Orleans. They serve as a kind of code book to the city's secrets."
Gisleson bemoans the loss of hand-painted individuality in the digital age of uniform signage, saying: "These signs are all individual creations, impossible to authentically replicate and as we learned the hard way a few years ago after the levee breaks, when they are gone, they are gone."
Biguenet adds: "Unintentional poems on a scrap of cardboard or the side of a dilapidated building, some signs leave us in wonder."
And that is the beguiling part of the book, which captures such idiosyncrasies as "Hogs Head Cheese 2 Blocks" and "Shiping and Received." And a sign for "Baby Back Pork Ribs Vac. Packed $3.99 Lb." that is posted next to a large statue of the Virgin Mary.
Then there is the nighttime illumination of signs such as "Blue Plate Fine Foods" on the art deco building at Earhart Boulevard and South Jefferson Davis Parkway, the gorgeous "Civic Air-Conditioned" vertical neon sign on the Carondelet Street building that once housed the city's oldest theater, and the "Hotel Monteleone" rooftop sign that lights up the Vieux Carre skyline..
After the book was long finished and in his hands, Varisco, who teaches graphic design to fourth-year students in Loyola University's visual arts department, noticed something he hadn't before. It's a 92-page book -- and 43 of the photos have to do with food and/or drink. "That's a lot of food and drink," he said. But hardly a surprise.
Admittedly crazy about typography, lettering and texturing, as you might expect a graphic designer to be, Varisco chose a special typeface for the different-sized texts in the book. It's Clarendon, a gorgeous slab serif font from the mid-19th century and, more important, the typeface used for the numbers on the Saints playing field at the Superdome.
Varisco said he came up with the idea for the book years ago, long before Katrina, and kept putting it off for a variety of reasons. He would take some photos now and then, as did Hill. But after the storm, even though their photos were digital, they could not find all of them. This gave Varisco a new sense of urgency coupled with that sense of loss.
First, he published his first book, "Spoiled," a photo essay of some of the clever and sarcastic messages left on ruined refrigerators after the storm, which became a local best-seller.
"It made me get off my butt," he said.
Varisco and Hill had to re-shoot some of the sign photos, and when they went looking, not all the shots they remembered were still there; the storm had claimed them.
That spurred Varisco to follow through and complete his project. And it prompted him to invoke one of his favorite sayings: "If you want to hear God laugh, make plans."
Ryan Tramonte is the General Manager of French Art Network and Rue Royale Art Partners of New Orleans. With galleries in Carmel by the Sea, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; New Orleans and Key West, Florida; the company’s family of galleries represents 54 artists from across the globe. With his office in the center of the French Quarter at 541 Royal Street, Ryan has managed to surround himself with some of the most beautiful aspects of New Orleans, its artists. Artists mold the way we think and live on a daily basis, they are one of society’s most prized possessions. Ryan, himself works in all mediums, but centers his work on painting and collage.