Art Today in Kyoto
Kiyoshi Awazu
Japanese, 1929–2009
1983
An offset lithograph poster by Kiyoshi Awazu for the exhibition “Art Today in Kyoto,” designed to meld traditional Japanese calligraphy and landscape feeling with contemporary graphic poster-making to entice viewers to the show.
You'd first notice the hypnotic, ribbon-like layers of pastel and muted tones that swell like mountains or clouds around pale moon discs, their softness contrasted by bold black calligraphic characters and narrow colored side panels of Japanese text.
Dating from 1983, the poster shows how Japanese designers used modern printing techniques to reimagine classical imagery, helping to expand the visual vocabulary of exhibition design and late-20th-century graphic art in Japan.
Medium
Offset lithograph
Dimensions
28 5/8 x 20 1/4" (72.5 x 51.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the designer
Accession
75.1990
Palette
Exhibitions
