Opening: February 18, 2012 15:00
Duration: February 18 – March 31, 2012
Venue: 916 Studio (E7), Redtory, Guangzhou No.128,Yuancun Si Heng Road,Tianhe District
Organizer: Redtory ·Art and Design Factory, Cheung Kong School of Art & Design
The Pictorial Modernism” Poster Exhibition is a small section of the poster collection by prof. Wang, Shouzhi. It reflects the influence of the Pictorial Modernism as a graphic style developed largely in Germany as called Plakastil in the Weimar period over Western graphic design. Among the exhibits, some of them are originals, others are reproduction based on original plates and copy-right owners in the U.S.; the section of Soviet posters is just photocopies. From the siècle de fin to 1970s, both Europe and American entered the Golden Age of Poster.
Preface
/ Wang, Shouzhi
This is a small section of the poster collection by prof. Wang, Shouzhi. It reflects the influence of the Pictorial Modernism as a graphic style developed largely in Germany as called Plakastil in the Weimar period over Western graphic design. Among the exhibits, some of them are originals, others are reproduction based on original plates and copy-right owners in the U.S.; the section of Soviet posters is just photocopies. From the siècle de fin to 1970s, both Europe and American entered the Golden Age of Poster. Ideological conflicts, cold war confrontation, consumerism and iconic materialism reached its zeal peak. Poster design was also under the influence of modern art movement from cubism, surrealism, dada, abstract expressionism and finally Pop as well as trendy fashion from Art Deco to streamlining, minimalism. Printing media: magazines, newspapers, bestseller pocket books, comics also gave designers a tremendous horizon of experiment. This period left us a great treasure house of art.
There are few collectors in China focusing on posters of these posters due to varied reasons. We hope this Poster Show could open a small window to Western graphic art for connoisseurs, designers, students as well as art lovers.
7 February 2012
SOME WORKS ON DISPLAY
“I Want You For U.S. Army” An American Recruitment Advertisement 1917
Uncle Sam: a common national personification of the American government. The 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution on September 15, 1961: “Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America’s National symbol of Uncle Sam.”
The well-known “recruitment” image of Uncle Sam was created by James Montgomery Flagg, an illustrator and portrait artist best known for commercial art during the First World War. Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam. The stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard, typically dressed in clothing that recalls the flag of the United States, becomes the fixed image of Uncle Sam. More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1917 and 1918. The image also was used extensively during World War II.
USSR- The leading brigade of the Proletariats of the whole world
A Soviet Revolution Poster 1931
This impressive image presents the Communist workers as a standard bearing giant, the exemplar to which all the downtrodden laborers of the world should aspire. One of the members of the Russian constructivist movement, Latvia-born Klutsis joined the Soviet avant-garde in the early years of the Bolshevik regime. He “continued to produce posters well into the Stalinist period, using photography and montage, and also maintaining many of the constructivist design principles. Sometimes… Heads and whole figures may gaze upwards, but Klutsis usually succeeds in avoiding the potentially idealized, sentimental or utopian nature of this gaze as it tended to be used in the realism of the 30s, by introducing an element of confrontation…or shock, which depends essentially upon montage.”
“Travel Italy via Jet Clipper” Pan American World Airways Advertisement 1950’s
Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) had been the main airline in America between the 1930’s and 1991 when it closed down. Starting from supplying water plane to customers in Key West, Florida, Pan Am gradually developed into a world famous airline. The company had brought quite a lot of innovations to the industry, including the widely use of jet liner, Jumbo Jet and computer reservation system, which makes it a cultural symbol in the 20th century.
JOB Rolling Papers Art Nouveau About 1898
JOB rolling papers are a popular brand of cigarette paper produced by Republic Tobacco in Perpignan, France. In 1838, a French craftsman named Jean Bardou came up with the idea for a booklet of rolling papers made of thin, pure rice paper. The booklets were a success and Bardou’s trademark, the initials “JB” separated by a diamond, became such a common sight that people began referring to them as JOB, thus the brand-name was born. In the late 1890s, the company hired art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha, as well as many other artists, to design advertising posters for the brand. Mucha drew a sinuous long-haired goddess holding a rolled cigarette. The image was inspired by Michelangelo’s Sibyls from the Sistine Chapel. The poster image was so popular that it was sold as a lithograph.
Art Nouveau started in the 1880’s, reaching to its climax between 1890 and 1910. The name of Art Nouveau originated from a store named “La Maison Art Nouveau” operated by Samuel Bing, where exclusively offered products in such style, which represents the highest art and design style in the early 20th century. Nowadays, Art Nouveau is regarded as the most innovative cultural movement of all in the 20th century.
Source From: http://www.redtory.com.cn/english/
