Diptych: Majors (2014)

CHRISTIAN MONTONE

Diptych: "Majors" (2014)

Collage on board. Two Panels: 24"X 36" each

Left Panel Above. Right Panel Below.

This is a personal piece that was made to hang in my home.

As I often do when gathering items for such a piece, I carefully select elements

for several months (or years) until I feel I have enough strong images to work with.

Details Below:

1960s Graphics: Majors Discount Department Store

This is a 1960s shopping bag graphic from Majors Department Store in Staten Island,

 New York. A contemporary of W.T. Grant, this store was a rather unique predecessor to 

 KMart and other "big box stores" of its kind. Having grown up in Staten Island in the 1970s 

and 80s, I remember this store quite well… Especially for its art and craft supplies and long, deep

 wells of records. Each record browser was fitted with carpeting to keep the merchandise from being

damaged by the shuffling of customers' hands (and possibly to keep shoppers from getting splinters).

Below is a Majors 1964 Christmas circular from The Staten Island Advance.

The following item has already been cut, arranged and pasted into a new collage diptych, 

but before doing so, I photographed it so it could be seen it in all of its two-tone offset glory.

Pinbacks

1960s & 70s vintage promotional pinback buttons.  Found on eBay and flea markets.