This article was originally published on LoudLoopPress.com on March 18, 2011.

Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff and his newborn son Inka stand in the back office of Fugscreen studios on 1735 N. Ashland Ave., in Chicago. (Photo by Audrey Leon)

By Audrey Leon

The building that houses Fugscreens Studios may be nondescript amongst the many sterile office buildings and schools that surround it on North Ashland Avenue, but the work that goes on inside is anything but.

The silk screener’s name isn’t as recognizable as Jay Ryan and Spudnik Press, but its gig poster handiwork can be seen around town at clubs like Schubas, The Empty Bottle or The Hideout on any given night.

“It snowballed a lot in the last year and a half,” said Fugscreen founder Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff, a 2006 graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, of the studio’s visibility.

Tasseff-Elenkoff attributes this new found attention to his studio partly to moving into the commercial space on 1735 N. Ashland Ave. nearly two years ago. “It opened us up to professional contacts and enabled us to have interns and resident artists,” he said.

Plenty of up-and-coming bands such as Radar Eyes and Ornery Little Darlings, as well as underground ladies’ wrestling league the Mudqueens are repeat customers for Fugscreens’ designs and print work for their own promotional needs.

When Tasseff-Elenkoff talks about his studio’s success – such as landing big clients like Corona or the Jack White-helmed super group Dead Weather – he mentions luck. However, Mudqueens’ founder Meg Bell attributes it to talent.

“Zissou’s screen prints are amazing, unique and Chicago-centered,” Bell said. “I haven’t found anything else like it.”

Bell and the band Radar Eyes were turned on to Fugscreens by Dumpster Babies drummer Paul Puschautz.

“Paul would design our fliers and he found a guy (Zissou) who would print them for a reasonable price,” said Radar Eyes guitarist Anthony Cozzi. “We did a bunch of them and they turned out great.

“I always really liked what he was doing,” Cozzi said.

Retro rocking duo Ornery Little Darlings didn’t come to Zissou, he came to them, frontman Jason Ewers said.

“We were playing a Lincoln Hall show (last May) and he asked to do the poster for it,” Ewers said. “We had a cool response and we’ve continued and continued.”

With Fugscreens having printed or designed many of Ornery Little Darlings’ posters, Ewers hesitated to pick a favorite.

“My favorite poster is always the new one and always the next one,” he said.

Tasseff-Elenkoff started Fugscreens out of his apartment over three years ago as a way to further his own art. Tasseff-Elenkoff said he began teaching by chance after a potential roommate inquired about lessons after seeing his home set up.

He soon began taking on students such as long-time patron Louie Russo. Russo, his sister and mother all came to Tasseff-Elenkoff to learn silk-screening to further their own artistic creativity.

“It was a nice outlet for me,” Russo said. “I realized what screen printing was and what I could do with it.”

And now it is even easier for those interested in screen printing to take classes at Fugscreens. The studio began working with Groupon to offer large group (10-14 people) classes starting Thursday, March 24 and continuing for the next five months.

“It’s going to be intense,” Tasseff-Elenkoff said. “People tried to advise me against it, but it’s good for the shop.”

The 28-year-old father of a newborn said ideally he would rather focus on his own fine art prints and gig posters, but believes teaching has its own rewards.

“I like teaching, especially when you get someone who’s interested and really loves doing it,” Tasseff-Elenkoff said.

For those looking to get into screen printing on their own Tasseff-Elenkoff said it is tough, but doable.

“Chicago has one of the strongest print communities in the country,” he said, “It has a long history so there’s a lot of equipment hanging around that you could get inexpensively.

“Have confidence in what you do and go for it,” Tasseff-Elenkoff said.