FAU Presents Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age
Ivan Gazdov, Play of Silhouettes Series, 1995, Digital, Bulgaria
The University Galleries in Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters presents “Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age 2001-2012” at the Ritter Art Gallery, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. The exhibition will open on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m. with a gallery talk by Elizabeth Resnick, curator of Graphic Advocacy and professor and chair of graphic design at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, Oct. 25. All events are free and open to the public.
“Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age 2001-2012” is a compilation of 122 selected posters that serve to both consider the designer’s role and this medium’s ability to present social and political statements that are visually able to cross language barriers. The showcasing of numerous posters by a divergent international group of designers allows for a more thorough examination of the relevance and visual power of the poster as a tool for advocacy and activism in our technological 21st century world.
In Resnick’s curatorial statement, she emphasizes that “the poster in all its forms has persisted as a vehicle for the public dissemination of ideas, information and opinion.” It is her objective that the audiences experience this medium’s capability (through the designer) to “advocate, incite, instruct, celebrate, and warn.”
This is the third in a series of socio-political poster exhibitions developed and organized by Resnick. The central theme of all three of her exhibitions has been that graphic design is a powerful tool. The first in her series was “The Graphic Imperative: International Posters for Peace, Social Justice, and The Environment 1965-2005,” co-curated by Chaz Maviyane-Davies and Frank Baseman. The second, “Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985-2010,” was co-curated with Javier Cortés. All exhibitions have successfully traveled throughout the United States and abroad.
Resnick has developed and organized numerous other design exhibitions since 1991. She has published catalogs of her graphic exhibitions, as well as the catalogs “Design for Communication: Conceptual Graphic Design Basics” (2003) and “Graphic Design: A Problem-Solving Approach to Visual Communication” (1984).
The University Galleries at FAU are open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays, from 1 to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. Group and class tours are welcome during public hours as well as at other times scheduled by appointment.
