Surface of Design


On view: October 3–November 11

Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 5, 4:30pm

Open: Monday–Friday 10am–5pm

Taking its name from a seminal essay by the critic and philosopher Jacques Rancière, this exhibition considers the question of surface in relation to contemporary graphic design. Beyond divisions between the poetic and the professional, or the modern and postmodern, “the flat surface,” Rancière reminds us, “was always a surface of communication where words and images slid into one another.” Curated by designer and writer Mark Owens, Surface of Design thus brings together select historical objects and work by contemporary artists and designers to probe a number of interrelated material practices, including wallpaper, supergraphics, and décor, as well as 3D printing and design for the surface of the computer screen. Between these various poles lies the printed page, and the exhibition will also consider how recent technological developments cast light on the notion of “the public” in publication. Taken together, the works in Surface of Design shed new light on graphic design as “a surface of communication” and ask what new forms of “communal life” might therefore be possible.

Participants include:
A Practice for Everyday Life
Cory Arcangel
Antoine Catala
Eyebodega
Karel Martens
Metahaven
Maureen Mooren
Our Polite Society
Verso Books

Event Location and Ticket Information

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Richard & Dolly Maass Gallery, Visual Arts Building, Purchase College
735 Anderson Hill Rd
Puchase, NY 10577
Handicap Accessible? Yes

Date: Monday, October 3, 2016 - Friday, November 11, 2016
Times: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Ticket pricing:
Free event

Presenter: School of Art+Design Purchase College
Presenter Phone: 914-251-6750
Presenter Website: https://www.purchase.edu

Sponsor Message

Located within the School of Art+Design, the Richard & Dolly Maass Gallery presents exhibitions that provide professional context for students and interact with their daily classroom experience. The gallery’s program focuses on emerging artists, A+D alumni, current faculty, and student work. This series includes yearly MFA and BFA student group exhibitions. In conjunction with the Neuberger Museum, the School also connects artists whose work is featured in an exhibition at the Museum with students, often times as a project space. Through this connection, students have the unique opportunity to work with a practicing exhibiting artist that isn’t a member of the School’s faculty.