Poster by Jean-Benoit Levy
for AIGA San Francisco
Opening : Monday May 1st 6 – 8 pm
Closing: Wednesday May 30th 6 – 8 pm
Vintage Berkeley Wine Store, 2113 Vine Street, Berkeley, CA 94709 (US)
A visual explosion of the senses – Where large formats meet with fine wines and original labels.
Curated by the californian graphic artist Michael Cronan, this poster exhibition is presented in a beautiful space in Berkeley's historic area. Now instead of water flowing out of this ancient municipal water pumping facility, a large selection of fine and original vines is offered in a elegant and simple environment. Beside a worldwide choice of vines such as mountain grown malbec from Argentina, pinot noir from the Russian River valley, inky syrah from Walla Walla or aromatic Basque blancos, the visual presence of 20 large size Posters will enhance the sophisticated spirit of the place. The characteristic of the Street Poster work of Jean-Benoit Levy is how he combines photography with typographical elements, assembling with art esthetic and complexity.
After his education at the Basel School of Design where he was trained under some great names of Swiss typography, Jean-Benoit Levy opens his own studio in Basel in 1989 called A N D. For the next 16 years, studio A N D created graphic design for various local, regional and national clients in Switzerland, collaborating when needed with other marketing or advertising agencies. Beside the everyday jobs of the studio A N D such as the design of Logos, Pictograms, Collaterals, Presentations, Book Design, Branding, Annual Reports or Websites and even Mint and Postage Stamps, Jean-Benoit Levy becomes internationally well known for his creation of advertising and cultural Swiss Street Posters.
In 2001 Jean-Benoit receives the US-green card which allows him to increase his professional activities toward California where he moved definitely in 2005. In addition to his client work, J-B L educational activities are wide: he gives actually an advanced typography class at SJSU ( San Jose State University ) and teaches in collaboration with his partner Claudia Dallendoerfer a class of interactive information design at the AAU ( Academy of Art University ) in San Francisco. Jean-Benoit is Member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI ) and AIGA. He is also the author of the "Handbook", a graphic compendium about hand signs newly published at Lars Muller Publishers and visual products published at Chronicle Books.