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Exhibition of contemporary Polish graphic design

30th September - 13th October 2010
99 Creative Center of the Shanghai University Fine Arts College, Shanghai



24th October - 13th November 2010
Shanghai Hongqiao Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai



17-31 December 2010
Art Institute of Sanjiang University, Nanjing



Designers/artists:
EDGAR BĄK, BERSZMISIAK, BROTHERS IN ARMS, DOMINIK CYMER, ROBERT CZAJKA
FONTARTE, FULL METAL JACKET, MAŁGORZATA GUROWSKA, HAKOBO, HOMEWORK, MARTA IGNERSKA, GRZEGORZ LASZUK (K+S), LECH MAJEWSKI, BŁAŻEJ PINDOR, KUBA SOWIŃSKI, STUDIO TEMPERÓWKA, FILIP ZAGÓRSKI, HONZA ZAMOJSKI

Curators: Magdalena Frankowska, Artur Frankowski
Curatorial cooperation in China: Chen Shujun

Organizers: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Shanghai University Fine Arts College, Shanghai Changning Culture and Art Center

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What is graphic design, and what is its significance? Since the days of Jan Tschichold's "new typography," many design critics and graphic designers have presented a range of original, sometimes contradictory definitions and concepts on the subject. It would seem that with the beginning of the 21st century we ought to redefine this notion, and also ask ourselves if graphic design can really differ in various countries - Poland being no exception - in our era of globalization.

"Eye on Poland" exhibition includes graphic design work commissioned almost exclusively by cultural institutions, museums and art galleries. It is not by accident. Working on this sort of design often allows designers to experiment, to find inventive means of expression, and the bar of the client's expectations is raised very high indeed. The outcome of these collaborations is often design of a high standard, which is original and marks out new directions.

We invited over a dozen of Poland's finest graphic artist/designers to take part in "Eye on Poland." We wanted to present a selection of their work from the past five years, and their latest work in particular. The designers we have invited differ in terms of the style and the aesthetics of their designs, their education and their professional experience. What they have in common is self-reflection, adventurousness, and an ever-improving form of expression, as well as new and original graphic solutions. Creative interpretations of reality are essential in today's world, where nothing is left "undesigned." In Poland this is a multiform and ambiguous space, in which tradition and modernity, illustration and typography, rich colors and black-and-white, and national and other cultural influences interweave in an original way. In preparing and presenting this exhibition, we wanted to share with the Chinese public an important fragment of our visual world and to invite you to have a peek at Polish applied graphics.