Behind the Poster
FEATURING: Alexis Politz, Anne Ulku, Evan Weselmann, Destiny Davison, Gina McMillen, Fiona Avocado, Ted Kusio, Nicholas Straight, Maximilian Mauracher, Melissa Sisk, and Sara Paul Kahn
The time has come to bid “From Us : Together, Forever, Sometimes” a proper farewell on Wednesday, May 27th 2020. We will be partnering up with the fine folx mplsart to host “Behind the Poster”. This finale is a long time coming and it feels great to shine a bit more light on this exhibition that was cut short in out brick & mortar last March. We are very proud of all the designers that put their hearts into their works, finding inspiration from the poetry written by Molly-Margaret Johnson and Kareem Rahma. Behind the Poster, a virtual art talk, will showcase several of those designers through candid videos that were self recorded last week.
Learn more about the designers in a series of 3 minute clips as they discuss their selection process in choosing their poem while not knowing if it had been written by Molly-Margaret Johnson and/or Kareem Rahma, their experience interpreting poetry to visual design and what is was like as an artist in this exhibition.
BEHIND THE POSTER
Wednesday, May 27th, 2020, 7pm
Hosted by mplsart & Gamut Director Cassie Garner
Click link: www.mplsart.com
FROM US: Together Forever Sometimes:
We began with thirty untitled and unauthored poems by Molly-Margaret Johnson & Kareem Rahma. By eliminating titles and byline for each poem, the audience is given an opportunity to connect more viscerally with the work by having to read between the lines without preconceptions of race, gender or sexual orientation. The outcome is an ouroboros of words written by two uniquely different individuals coming together.
Johnson & Rahma’s poetry was then shared with local and national typographers, illustrators and designers who were challenged to conceive a personal rendition of the selected poem of their choice. Through screen print, letterpress, woodblock, hand lettering, and various illustrative elements, they will produce posters that push the viewer’s interpretation, adding yet a third layer of complexity to the written prose.
The culmination of this process extends to those who will visit the gallery to experience From Us. Featuring bold, fluid, high contrast, and vibrant visual representations, the gallery walls will be filled with content that will connect with viewers. We anticipate engaging, perception-bending conversations filled with an appreciation and respect for differences as the outcome.