International Poster Exhibition Opens Sept. 17 at Colorado State University

Note to Editors: Color slides of posters in the 11th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition and from honor laureate Luba Lukova are available by calling June Greist in the Public Relations Office at (970) 491-6432.

This fall, posters by acclaimed artists from around the globe will be showcased on the Colorado State campus, home to the only international poster exhibition organized in the United States.

The 11th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition, which opens Sept. 17, will feature posters by 96 graphic artists from 32 countries. The work displayed in the exhibition offers international perspectives on contemporary political, social and cultural issues.

Leading the parade of posters is honor laureate Luba Lukova, a Bulgarian graphic designer now living in New York City. Much of Lukova’s art addresses global problems such as racism, starvation and war. Her work has appeared in "The New York Times," numerous national magazines, theater posters, CD covers and books. Lukova’s work is housed in museum collections around the world including the MOMA in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; the MOMA Toyama in Japan; and the Musee des Beaux-arts in Mons, Belgium.

Posters from the artists invited to the international poster show will fill the Clara Hatton and Curfman Galleries on the Colorado State campus through Oct. 22. In addition, posters by the honor laureate, exhibition directors and high-school students from the Poudre School District will hang in the Fort Collins Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public. The exhibitions will remain open 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays and 1-4 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 22.

Opening ceremonies for the exhibition of work by the honor laureate, exhibition directors and high-school students will be from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center. The evening will include a presentation by the laureate, student award presentation and reception.

The international poster show officially opens with a reception from 7-9 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Visual Arts Building at Colorado State. During the evening, exhibition winners will be announced and a poster sale will take place in the Hatton and Curfman galleries, located in the Visual Arts Building and Lory Student Center, respectively. A limited number of copies of exhibition posters will be available. Catalogs also will be available for purchase.

Festivities on campus will include talks by poster artists from China, Bulgaria and across the United States Sept. 17 from 1-3 p.m. in the Visual Arts Building, Room F101.

The poster exhibition was first organized in 1979 by a group of Colorado State art professors and Fort Collins designers, including Phil Risbeck, Shelton Stanfill, Bob Coonts, Miriam Harris and John Sorbie. This year’s exhibition is coordinated by Linny Frickman, Colorado State art instructor and director of the Hatton Gallery. Risbeck, Coonts and graphic art associate professor John Gravdahl are exhibition co-directors.

Posters in the show have historically mirrored issues of foremost public concern. In the tenth biennial event in 1997, artists addressed concern over ecology, racism, war in Bosnia and political and religious tensions in the Middle East. During the seventh biennial event in 1991, a number of works reflected the fall of the Soviet Union and political shifts in Eastern Europe. This year’s exhibition includes posters that address the change in government of Hong Kong, Israeli politics, AIDS in Africa and the coming of the millennium.

The exhibition also will include satellite poster shows around the region:

• The Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art will host an exhibition titled "Four Chinese Poster Artists." The exhibit includes about 100 posters from well-known poster artists Xiao Yong from Beijing; Wang Yuefei from Shenzhen; Chen Fang from Shantou; and Shen Haopeng from Shanghia. The show is open Sept. 16-Oct. 23 in the main gallery. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday from noon-5 p.m. A reception will be held Sept. 16 from 7-9 p.m. to open the exhibition. Yong will visit Fort Collins in September.
• The Visual Arts Building will feature a collection of posters created by Chinese art school students. Posters from students at five leading art schools in China will be featured throughout the building Sept. 17-Oct 22.
• Colorado State University’s Morgan Library will feature "Spanish Civil War posters from the Library of Congress" August 23 through October 15.
• The Denver Art Museum will feature a retrospective exhibition of posters by John Sorbie, an internationally recognized Fort Collins artist and Colorado State art professor who passed away in 1995. The exhibition opens Sept. 11.
• An exhibition titled "Contemporary Japanese Posters" runs at the Loveland Museum/Gallery Foote Gallery, 503 N. Lincoln Ave., Dec. 18 through Feb. 6. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

The poster exhibition is presented by Colorado State, the Fort Collins Lincoln Center, Poudre School District, the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Collins Convention and Visitors Bureau. Financial sponsors include Colorado State’s department of art, the Colorado Council on the Arts, Fort Fund from the city of Fort Collins and Roy Toma and Associates, Inc.