Though locked down in London, this exhibition of letterpress protest posters has plenty of messages for the world If the past few years have felt like one long trail of division, doom and injustice, followed by the deadly silence and devastating death toll of the pandemic, then ‘Reverting to Type 2020: Protest Posters’ is the exhibition for you,
writes John L. Walters. The 204 protest posters on display form a protracted howl of rage and anguish about nearly everything you can think of, from Trump to fracking, from inequality to global warming. There are 188 artworks from 105 printers in sixteen countries, plus 26 collaborations between New North Press (NNP), the initiators of the exhibition, and a variety of people who do not usually make letterpress work, including Peter Kennard (see
Reverting to Type exhibition features protest posters by 100 letterpress artists
The online exhibition features a mix of famous names and less-heard voices, who all use letterpress techniques to express their feelings on a range of contemporary issues 28/01/2021 8:03 am
Organised by letterpress studio New North Press, the exhibition was originally held at the Standpoint Gallery in London, where it opened in December but then had to close due to the latest UK Covid-19 lockdown. It has since reached people online and via a catalogue of the works featured.
While the events of last year make an exhibition about protest very timely, planning for it actually began in December 2019. “That’s when we chose the subject of protest,” says Richard Ardagh, who curated the show alongside Graham Bignell. “We had no idea at the time the significance this would take and the world-changing events round the corner with Covid-19, the murder of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and the gener
Minnesota Center for Book Arts Confronts White Supremacy with Window Art Installation
Eyes Wide Shut, by Evanston-based artist Ben Blount, speaks to the many facets of white supremacy in a series of 140 letterpress prints.
MCBA Exhibition
A new art installation is on display at Minnesota Center for Book Arts in downtown Minneapolis. Pasted across the centerâs windows are white posters with simple black text:
White supremacy is tenacious. White supremacy is laughable. White supremacy is calculated. White supremacy is hot garbage. Eighteen phrases repeat across 140 prints. The art installation, titled
Eyes Wide Shut, is the work of Evanston-based artist, designer, and letterpress printer Ben Blount.Â