THE ART OF POSTERS
THE BEST OF CONTEMPORARY POLISH GRAPHIC DESIGN IS ON DISPLAY AT THE BHAU DAJI LAD MUSEUM
It’s easy to identify the works of Joanna Gorska and Jerzy Skakun, known together as Homework. Their posters, currently on display at the ‘Eye on Poland’ exhibition at Bhau Daji Lad Museum, tend to have one simple but striking image set against a bare background. Their minimalistic design is starkly different from the detailed illustrations of Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski (Hipopotam Studio), whose 2013 book Maps, featuring the maps of the world, has gained global recognition.
These designers are among 30 contemporary Polish artists whose posters, books, exhibition catalogues and album covers make up the display curated by Magdalena Frankowska and Artur Frankowski. “The idea behind the exhibition is to take the viewer on a voyage through a wide range of styles, attitudes and design strategies reflecting the richness of the current Polish graphic design scene,” explain the curators.
What ties these fiercely individualistic artists is their inspiration from the Polish School of Posters, which came into prominence soon after World War II. “My chief goal is to fit nothing and no one,” Henryk Tomaszewski (1914-2005) famously said. The artist’s words came to define what later became known as the school of art. He along with Roman Cies´ lewicz, Jan Lenica and Waldemar S´ wierzy characterised this hybrid of words and images and their posters began to gain equal importance to the work of painters.
Even though the school of art is said to have lasted chiefly from the mid-50s to the late 60s, their influences—whether it is the use of traditional folk art, vibrant colours or cheeky humour—aren’t hard to find in the works of the contemporary Polish designers. For instance, Robert Czajka ‘Animals’, a set of cardboard toys and their simplified shapes, clearly resemble Polish folk toys.
For the past 15 years, Poland has provided the
WHAT TIES THESE FIERCELY INDIVIDUALISTIC ARTISTS IS THEIR INSPIRATION FROM THE POLISH SCHOOL OF POSTERS
stage for the emergence of a new phenomenon in the field of the poster and book design, notes Aneta S´ wiecicka, Visual Arts, Design, Literature and Theatre Programmer, Polish Institute in New Delhi. The designers use artistic gestures and unique expression to offer an effective response to questions asked taking the place of the anecdote. “Its designers are not only the professional creators of posters/ books. They are sometimes illustrators, visual artists or photographers,” she adds.
While political propaganda initially played a key role in the Polish school of posters, contemporary artists benefit from the setting up of cultural institutions. The works on display were commissioned by clients from the fields of art and culture, including theatres, museums, foundations, art galleries, organisers of film or music festivals.
EXHIBITION 'EYE ON POLAND: New Graphic Design from Poland'
AT Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Rani Baug), 91/A, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Byculla East
TILL July 31
TIME 10 am to 5.30 p.m. (Closed on Wednesdays)