Burlesque Of North America proud to offer our inaugural fine art print in collaboration with Barcelona-based mineral photographer extraordinaire Joaquim Callén. Va Pensiero Sull'ali Dorate is an 11-color screen print featuring 6 custom mixed metallic gold inks, creating a unique depth and realism that brings Joaquim’s brilliant photograph to life! 

In his own words:

“When I was barely 10 years old, my father put in my hands the first camera we had at home. As a child, I marveled at the behavior of light and how it formed mysterious and fascinating images and appeared in the film with the development. It was a small cigar box with minerals that my father had collected that opened a fascinating new world for me. That game of projecting light through those crystals is still my game today, 60 years later.

Eloïsa, my wife, friend, and colleague who was also a photographer and mineral enthusiast, had always been my ally in my professional life. After her loss last year, Eloïsa is still encouraging and inspiring me in my work and new projects today”

Joaquim has been a professional photographer for over 50 years working in different fields, but in 2009, exclusive focus on mineral photography turned him around back to his childhood. He published his first mineral magazine in 1978 and has since then been the editor, writer, and photographer of numerous magazines, books, and prints. The perfectionism of his work has opened the doors to the best mineral collections in the world.

“It all starts when we get introduced to each other. That astonishing and unique mineral piece created by nature is in front of me. I admire it at first look. We talk to each other for a while. Lights turn on and start circling the piece like a mating dance. They stop! It is time to capture its soul. I had been thinking for years about stepping into another artistic perspective to capture that soul. Friendship crossed my path to meeting Mike and Ben. I not only discovered how talented Ben is with the silkscreen technique but also his passion for mineralogy. That passion and the language we mineral enthusiasts speak is what was needed by Ben and Mike to achieve this print.”

The original photo was taken in 2013 from the prestigious mineral collection of Dave Bunk.

A few words from our resident mineral / photography / printmaking enthusiast Ben LaFond:

"When this project with Joaquim was put on the table for discussion, every bit of me was thrilled with the possibilities. Outside of my life as a printmaker, my two main hobbies are photography and collecting minerals, both of which have been deeply embedded in my life for over two decades. Check out my mineral account @benjaminerals if you haven’t.

There are many tiers of mineral collecting and photography. Joaquim is by far one of the best in the world at capturing the essence of some of the finest mineral specimens to ever come out of the earth. I am extremely proud to have this opportunity to produce our first fine art screen print with Joaquim. I wasn’t quite able to fully describe the vision I was having to bring this gold specimen to life and I am honored the trust was put in me to see it through. Every time I look at it, I am still blown away with the depth it has. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I cannot wait to see what sort of mineral print magic we can come up with next.

Huge thank you to Ben Gunter for the excellent help with color separations. Forever thanks large to my grandpa Les for the gold dust and watching over me."

16 x 20" (40.6 x 50.8cm)
11 color screen print on 370 gsm Sirio Ultra Black paper
Hand-numbered edition of 45 prints
Each print accompanied by a screen printed certificate of authenticity, signed + numbered by Joaquim Callén, and deluxe custom packaging. 

Available now exclusively at burlesquedesign.com

These prints will ship in November / December 2023

We just launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help bring our resident vector illustration wizard / card magic enthusiast Mike Davis' brand new deck of playing cards SECRET MENU to life, and YOU can help!

The deck consists of 52 standard sized playing cards, each with a unique food illustration. The lack of hearts, clubs, Aces, or Queens may seem unusual, but there is a method to the madness which will allow card magicians of ANY skill level to perform some mind-bending miracles.



Check out the Kickstarter campaign to learn more about the cards and all the great rewards you can bring home by helping make this project a reality!

This year, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary!
Hard to believe we've been going at it for two decades, but the calendar don't lie.

While the name Burlesque was being thrown around during the late '90s Life Sucks Die era, and can even be seen written on some of the house-designed ads inside the magazine's final issues, we really got things fired up with a full-time design and print operation, logo, and website in the Fall of 2003.

We dove head on into designing concert posters, printing them in Wes' homemade screen printing studio in the basement of his South Minneapolis apartment building, creating album covers and logos, sharpening our squeegees, and connecting with the communities of poster artists, printers, and collectors across the map.

We opened First Amendment Arts, an art gallery in the front of our Northeast Minneapolis print shop, and hosted shows from dozens of local and national artists, moved upstairs to open CO Exhibitions and brought in even bigger artists and events, printed thousands of posters, shirts, and stickers, made some incredible friends, traveled around the globe to share our work at schools, galleries, and events like Flatstock, then came back home to keep making more.

We've worked on design and print projects for a huge range of clients, from Nike, Target, X-Games, UFC, Chromeo, World Street Kitchen, Stones Throw Records, Baroness, Stephen ESPO Powers, 3M, Converge and Deathwish Records, Tara McPherson, to Walker Art Center, and so many more.

We threw a party for Dr. Dre's birthday, unknowingly lighting the fuse to launch a worldwide annual holiday with Dre Day parties happening in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Nashville, Seattle, Tampa, and even Paris.

We've steered the ship through a number of truly wild twists and turns and goddammit we're still here bringing you all the high quality graphic design, screen printing, events, and good times you can dream of.

Plenty of celebrations to come throughout the remainder of 2023 (more on that below), but for now, here are a few photos of just a few of the fun projects and events we've been part of over the years.

Oh you thought we were just gonna do a little blog post and that's it? Come celebrate this mega milestone in style at a multimedia bash in Modist Brewing's brand spankin' new event space!

Our dear friend Shannon Blowtorch will be spinning some tunes for you to get down to!

Those Magic Underground boyz will be prestidigitating and destroying your beautiful brains!

We'll have some new and classic posters, shirts, and other goods on display and available for purchase!

We're bringing back the spirit of Cinco De Mayhem with some custom piñatas filled with ridiculously good prizes!

Take a chance with our carnival games!

Challenge a friend to a classic video game projected exxxtra large onto the walls!

Giveaways!

Glorious, award-winning beer from Modist!

Snacks!

Friendship!

RSVP and invite friends on Facebook!

We've been admiring the artwork of Bill Rebholz for years and honestly, we can't believe we didn't make this happen earlier. Better late than never as we launch our debut print with this Los Angeles-based artist with roots in the Twin Cities. We present to you... MACKEREL CAN!



Available in two distinct colorways, these prints are 6 bright and outta sight colors on 100% cotton paper, signed and numbered by the artist. Don't miss your chance to adorn your kitchen or dining room with this beauty.

While you're here, check out some more of Bill's work that we love and follow that man on Instagram!