"Alphabet and A to Z: Two Exhibitions Curated by Baltimore's PostTypography and Richmond's The Drama"
2005-08-05 until 2005-08-28
Lump gallery/projects
Raleigh, NC, USA United States of America

Lump gallery/projects is very pleased to present Alphabet and A to Z, two exhibitions curated by Baltimore's PostTypography and Richmond‚'s The Drama. The exhibition will run from August 5 - 28, 2005 and is on view Saturdays and Sundays from 1 - 5pm. Focusing on an ordinary subject that we see each day, often in the hundreds of thousands, Alphabet presents 26 letters as more than just shapes for conveying information. The 48 artists and designers in this show conceive and interpret the alphabet in surprising and inventive ways, ranging from graceful and polished to witty and unconventional.

The 60 alphabets featured in Alphabet were created by artists in North America, Europe, and Asia, and represent work from well-known typographers and designers as well as rising artists and design students.

The alphabets in the exhibition reflect a range of thinking about letters that encompasses the conceptual, illustrative, typographic, and beyond. Some of the artists have created their alphabets from a variety of non-traditional media or found objects, while others render their forms with pen and ink in obsessive detail. By presenting each alphabet removed from the context of words and typography, we focus on these 26 shapes as forms unto themselves rather than just the building blocks of words. The alphabets in the exhibition (all received through an open call) are shown dissected into their base elements--A through Z--freeing the artists and designers from the confines of legibility. At the same time, they are challenged to expand the experiment (usually created only to form a single word or image) into a complete system that goes beyond a short headline, the realm to which such experimentation is usually relegated.

Coinciding with the release of Issue Five, A to Z was a collection of twenty six 15" x 15" works by an international group of artists, representing all corners of the US, England, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Hong Kong and Brazil. Each piece was an interpretation of a letter of the alphabet, ranging anywhere from An Affable Attack to Zeus. The artists involved brought together a full spectrum of underground, emerging, and contemporary artists whose works cross the borders between illustration, comic art, photography, design, and more.

The exhibit featured works by Jordan Crane, Lump Lipshitz, Henrik Drescher, Saelee Oh, Kevin Christy, Lee Misenheimer, Maya Hayuk, Yuko Kondo, Katsuo Design, Helge Reumann, Frank McCauley, Cody Hudson, Phil Elverum, Matt Irving, Dan McCarthy, Evah Fan, Eduardo Recife, Mauro Gatti, James Jean, Xavier Robel, Syrup Helsinki, Sammy Harkham, Rachell Sumpter, Ed Martinez, Tom Gauld, and Matthew Curry.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of North Carolina

Other Important Exhibitions in United States