100 YEARS OF SWISS GRAPHIC DESIGN

100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design showcases the diversity of contemporary visual culture as well as revealing the fine lines of tradition that extend between works from different epochs. The show reveals that, while it is impossible to identify a single individual style in Swiss graphic design, a certain common approach is certainly to be found. The striking quality of the works, the way in which they are securely rooted in handcraft, as well as precision and reduction to essentials are the characteristics of this approach. Graphic works from Switzerland reflect international tendencies as well as local characteristics. They are accompanied by irony and wit.

This exhibition is a colorful cross-section through one hundred years of visual everyday culture. The chronological link is formed by a continuous frieze made up of 100 posters from the period between 1912 and 2012. The poster has been able to retain its relevance as a medium over this entire period, so that the range extends from classic masters of poster art to designers from the younger generation. The show reveals that, despite changes in needs, aspirations and techniques over the course of time, graphic design always circles around similar themes: the field of tension between art and graphic design is manifested, the dialogue between graphic design and photography…

February 10 – June 3, 2012
Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich

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