Category Press Releases

ICONOGRAPHIC: The first exhibition of my graphic poster art

As a budding design student, my first love was poster design. I used to pour over old Graphis annuals (many of which I later collected) inspired by the work of Shigeo Fukuda, Tommie Ungerer, Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Herb Lubalin, Per Arnoldi and Waldemar Swierzy to name but a few. I often thought I could have been extremely happy if I just designed posters for a living.

A couple of years ago, I got to a crossroads in my life where I started to think about what I had done to date and where I was going. I reflected on my previous youthful dreams and the thought occurred to me “when was the last time you designed a poster?”

It was a thought that began to nag at me as I started to think about what creative path I might take next. Little signs and co-incidences appeared along the way, like the fact that I found out that I share the same birthday (31 May) with Jules Cheret; the French painter and lithographer who became a master of Belle Époque poster art and is regarded as the ‘father of the modern poster’

So eventually I decided to design a set of posters purely for my own pleasure and centered around my personal heroes and heroines. I then also built a small online poster store called ‘The PStore’ (an anagram of the word ‘poster’) to sell my own works initially, but maybe one day also the works of other artists and designers I admire.

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“ICONOGRAPHIC’ The first exhibition of my work will be at Art Dept at Clapham Picturehouse in London. This small exhibition of 25 artworks runs from 10 October – 10 November 2013.

The centerpiece of the show is a 70x100cm tribute artwork to the legendary and pioneering Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who would have been 75 this month were he still alive today.

For more information visit the online poster store at www.pstore.bigcartel.com to view more examples of my work and purchase prints.

Design Guru gives his stamp of approval to African Diaspora philatelic exhibition

Author and cultural commentator Stephen Bayley lends his support to an exhibition highlighting black achievement as part of Black History Month UK

A thematic exhibition showcasing stamps, autographs and memorabilia of the African Diaspora has been given some heavyweight support from the design community in the form of author and cultural commentator, Stephen Bayley.

Post-Colonial: an exhibition of stamps from the African Diaspora, curated by African-Caribbean creative, Jon Daniel, launches on Saturday 1st October at 399 Strand, London, home of world famous stamp dealer, Stanley Gibbons. Fraser’s Autographs, a division of The Stanley Gibbons Group plc will be supplementing the exhibition with a range of autographs and memorabilia.

Bayley has often been quoted expounding the design qualities of stamps, stating in a press interview last year that, “They involve a whole range of creativity, within clear disciplines, not least dictated by their size. So by collecting stamps, you are, at a fraction of the cost of collecting other forms of art, gaining access to a vast international archive of design.”

 

Having been selected to feature in Creative Review’s Monograph, Jon Daniel’s own collection was the inspiration behind this exhibition and his appreciation of stamp design will be evidenced by a panel given over entirely to stamps chosen by him purely for the quality of their design.

“The design disciplines involved are fascinating: within a tiny space, a stamp must establish national identity, indicate its value, contain (if it is a special edition) usefully suggestive symbolism and needs high visual impact…without compromising the dignity of the issuing authority. Stamps are astonishing bargains as well as examples of miniature genius” said Bayley.

 

Post-Colonial: Stamps of the African Diaspora opens at Stanley Gibbons, 399 Strand, London on Saturday 1st October and runs until Saturday 29th October. For those unable to attend, the exhibition will also be available via the Stanley Gibbons website: www.stanleygibbons.com.