Exhibition : 12*-19 May 2022 | at: Espace PORT A, Sofia . . . . . part of FIG.2 and the European Art Night Sofia
With RADICAL PLAY |poster show, we present a selection of radical examples –in concept and print– from the extensive poster collection of Henk Groenendijk [NL].
Snatched from the walls of the Amsterdam based Gerrit Rietveld Academie and collected over the years, they represent a dynamic and playful design attitude of student in the bachelors and master program.
Over the last decades the non-commercial poster has been in search for a rediscovery of its right to exist as most events are announced on social media. Posters escaped the exclusive realm of graphic design and have been enthusiastically adopted by a much wider group of involved people using every opportunity, every technique at their disposal. Everyone seizes the opportunity now, to make a “poster” for any event, presentation or party.
At the Art academy however the inclusive production facilities and special workshops create opportunities for students to exercise their skills and produce printed posters in any available technique, for any event, lecture or inter-curricular gathering as part of the academical program. The infamous ‘zero’ budget often plays an important role and if there is only room for one print-run the rest is colored by hand. This results in a vibrant eclectic poster-making culture, whose results can be seen on every floor in every corridor on every wall-space on campus.
There is no poster design course. It is an art that arises from a wide expressive capacity, mutual cooperation and a constant flood of experiments. A monumental billboard of 1,25 x 5 meter containing six A0 posters, centrally positioned in the courtyard, feeds this attitude with a screen-printed ‘poster’ project every other week. The publication Upfront (available at this exhibition) , presents a lavishly illustrated history of this project that started already 25 years ago in 1998
