Esquire covers at MOMA.
Most people think of advertising as an annoyance. But the best work, by the best practitioners, can enlighten, inform, entertain, and even inspire.
The masters of the 1960s and ‘70s creative revolution - Bill Bernbach, David Ogilvy, and Leo Burnett - left an indelible imprint on American culture. Who, of a certain age, doesn't remember Doyle Dane & Bernbach's "Think Small" for Volkswagen or "Spicy Meatballs" for Alka Seltzer.
And now, another giant of the Golden Age - George Lois - is getting his due with a show at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. Lois, whose body of work includes everything from "When you've got it, flaunt it," to "I want my MTV," designed 92 covers for Esquire magazine between 1962 and 1972.
MOMA is displaying 32 of the best - including a 1968 cover of Muhammad Ali as St. Sebastian, a controversial 1963 cover of boxer Sonny Liston as Santa Claus, and a 1966 cover depicting Hubert Humphrey as a dummy on ventriloquist Lyndon Johnson's lap.
The show opens April 25 and runs until March 31, 2009. Details are available at http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=8158