The
fashion circus moves to Paris this week, but if you're not part of the
industry, you like art and typography and you're planning a trip to
France later on this year, write down in your diary the Typorama
exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs. The event, opening in November, will
celebrate thirty years of works by French graphic designer Philippe
Apeloig.
Born in Paris in 1962, after his studies at the
École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués , Apeloig developed a passion for
typography while interning in the '80s at Wim Crouwel's Total Design
Studio in Amsterdam. This experience opened him new perspectives on
contemporary and experimental uses of typography: while Crouwel's
approach prompted him to experiment with grid-like structures, his
experience in the Netherlands allowed him to discover at the Stedelijk
Museum paintings by Mondrian and Malevich.
Hired as a graphic
designer by the Musée d’Orsay in the mid-'80s, Apeloig created an
iconic poster for the exhibition "Chicago, Birth of a Metropolis". For
this event about architecture and American urbanism, Apeloig applied to
typography new technologies discovered at Total Design including
computer aided design.
More recently, he designed
posters for exhibitions and events linked with fashion such as "Yves
Saint Laurent" at the Petit Palais in 2010.
This poster is a sort of
collage combining the YSL logo created by Cassandre in 1961 in its
original version, the colours of the "Mondrian" dress created in 1965 by
the designer and a detail of a photograph by Pierre Boulat taken in 1962.
Apeloig
has also worked with publishing houses Robert Laffont and Phaidon Press
and designed throughout his career numerous posters and logotypes for
various institutions such as the Louvre, the Theatre du Châtelet, or the
Fête du Livre in Aix-en-Provence.
Theatre and contemporary dance
actually inform his work: a fan of Merce Cunningham and Pina Bausch,
Apeloig considers each letter as a body to be choreographed. This is the
main reason why in his compositions letters assume a dynamic dimension
and structure.
Typorama
will allow visitors to discover the inspirations behind Apeloig's work -
from Constructivism and Bauhaus to De Stijl, from oil painting, to
performing arts and literature. The event will feature indeed more than 150 posters, logos,
fonts, and preparatory studies, that will help design fans understanding better the approach of this
graphic designer and his innovative visual solutions.
Typorama:
Philippe Apeloig, Les Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris, November 21, 2013 to March 30, 2014.
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