Kowal, Cal. Tee Shirts Are Tacky. Photographs by Cal Kowal. Signed.

Self-published, 1976. SIGNED, “Edition of 1000 Cal Kowal." Wraps, 48 pages, like new. Black-and-white square format photographs of Americans wearing tee shirts. [Born and educated in Chicago, Kowal earned a B.A .in art and architectural history from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a M.S. from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. From 1971 to 2002 he taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In 1975, he was included in Mike Mandel's photographers baseball cards series (#65).] Scarce. Summary:

Tee Shirts Are Tacky (self-published in 1976 as a limited edition of 1,000 copies) is an unpaginated, 46-to-48-page photographic artist’s book created by American conceptual photographer Cal Kowal. Diverging from standard formal portraiture, this square-format, softcover monograph functions as an early, insightful piece of visual anthropology that documents the mid-1970s explosion of the graphic T-shirt as a primary medium for personal expression, youth rebellion, and alternative culture in America.

Core Themes and Content

• The T-Shirt as a Uniform of Expression: The book jokingly dedicates itself to Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando's iconic, T-shirt-wearing character in A Streetcar Named Desire), updating his ethos to state: "It’s no longer who you know, but what you say and how you wear it!" Kowal positions the printed T-shirt as the most significant, democratized, and bare-bones "humanistic uniform" in modern America, treating it as an open canvas for individual identity.

• Capturing Alternative 1970s Culture: Across a series of casual yet deliberate black-and-white portraits, Kowal captures ordinary citizens and eccentric characters on the street flaunting their graphic choices. Notably, the book features a rare, historic portrait of a 15-year-old Jean-Michel Basquiat—years before his rise to art-world superstardom—sporting a T-shirt that boldly reads, "The Devil Made Me Buy This Shirt."

• The Sarcastic Contradiction of Taste: The book's title carries a layer of irony. While labeling the garments as "tacky," Kowal's framing actually celebrates them. He highlights how mass-produced, commercial imagery is subverted by the wearer to project humor, political stances, and stylistic subversion, turning a cheap article of clothing into an extension of the wearer's psychology.

• A Visual Inventory of Mid-Century Ephemera: Visually, the publication operates as a deadpan archive of 1970s vernacular and graphic design. By isolating the subjects and focusing tightly on the text and logos stretched across their chests, Kowal showcases how slogans, corporate branding, and pop-culture puns become a walking form of concrete poetry.

By treating a casual fashion trend with the serious eye of a documentary photographer, Tee Shirts Are Tacky stands as a witty and crucial cultural time capsule, capturing the exact moment the graphic T-shirt transitioned from standard undergarment to the definitive loudspeaker of American youth culture.

Cal Kowal (born 1944) is an acclaimed American conceptual photographer, multimedia artist, and educator known for his inventive, humorous, and socially insightful approach to capturing contemporary culture. Born in Chicago, Kowal received a BA in art and architectural history from the University of Illinois, Chicago, before earning an MS in design from the prestigious Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied under legendary photographic figures Aaron Siskind and Arthur Siegel. Combining technical discipline with a sharp eye for the unconventional, he established a prolific career that bridged fine art photography with graphic and performance elements, famously illustrated by his 1980 artist's book This Space Reserved, which documented Chicago's winter parking "dibs" culture. Beyond his studio practice, Kowal dedicated over thirty years to academia, serving as a Professor of Fine Art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1971 until his retirement in 2002. The recipient of multiple visual arts fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and a Kodak Fellowship, Kowal's boundary-pushing works are held in premier permanent collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Art Institute of Chicago, the George Eastman House, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.