Nogoodniks  (English, Paperback, Norvid Adrian)

Nogoodniks collects a ragtag group of images that draw from popular brand slogans, tropes of 1970s counterculture, bad puns, and the sardonic wit of Adrian Norvid. Pages alternate between cartoonish caricatures, parodies of commercial products, and tongue-in-cheek self-congratulatory affirmations that the author has written to himself. Nogoodniks follows in the tradition of other D+Q Petit Livres, but is notable largely in its humor, which is not only dry and pointed but also often extremely crude. Norvid's images disarm us; their appealing colors and lines draw us in and then their inappropriate language and sometimes vulgar meanings make us blush. By pairing childish, crude imagery or messages with a refined, appealing drawing style, Norvid confronts us with our own attitudes about culture and what is appropriate, and points out the fun in doing and saying things your mom told you not to. Norvid is a gallery artist who was featured in the 2008 Quebec Triennial at Musee d'Art Contemporain. His exhibit Wrongo appeared at Galerie Joyce Yahouda in 2010.His work has been widely praised by fine-art magazines, including Canadian Art and Border Crossings.