View of the exhibition
Pierre Mendell. Posters
The unmistakable posters of Pierre Mendell (1929, Essen – 2008, Munich) are, even today, the subject of international attention; Mendell is considered one of the world’s leading graphic designers. His large-scale graphic compositions, their clear and striking colors, their somewhat abstract formal vocabulary and their distinctive typography display electrifying vigor on the advertising columns and billboards of the city. As visual invitations full of humor, passion and poetry, their messages strike straight to the heart of the viewer.
Mendell’s cultural posters left their own particular imprint on the public domain for some 40 years; as of 1980, these were primarily works for Die Neue Sammlung and, as of the 1990s, for Bayerische Staatsoper, Unicef, Volkshochschule (adult education programs) and other clients, as well. He also produced posters on social topics upon the studio’s own initiative. The importance accorded to his work is evidenced by awards and exhibitions in Europe, South America and Japan.
As for Mendell’s weighty book publication “Auf den ersten Blick. Graphic Design für den Alltag” (At first sight. Everyday Graphic Design) – the title alone reveals fundamental characteristics of his work. Asked about the philosophy behind his work, Pierre Mendell described his approach to design as follows: “The way that people communicate with one another also defines their culture. And if we can include a little culture in everyday graphic design, so much the better.”
The Neue Sammlung exhibition was produced in close cooperation with graphic designer Annette Kröger, who was an employee of Pierre Mendell’s for many years and who is now in charge of the studio. The selection focuses primarily on the two institutions whose collective image was, for so long, determined by Design Studio Pierre Mendell (until 2000: Graphic Design Mendell & Oberer), complemented by posters of his for humanitarian causes that have become particularly famous. Moreover, the preparatory sketches and small collages in which Pierre Mendell started playing with the ideas and designs that formed the basis of his posters are now on show in an exhibition for the first time.
An exhibition by Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design-Museum Munich – in cooperation with the Pierre Mendell Design Studio and Neues Museum für Kunst und Design Nürnberg
Exhibition | Nuremberg | to October 14, 2012 - prolongation until October 21, 2012