15th Biennial Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibit to be Held at Colorado State

Note to Editors: Selected print-quality images of posters in the 15th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition are available for media use only. Contact Nik Olsen at (970) 491-7766 or Jeanna Nixon at (970) 491-1584 for images. Downloadable, print-quality images of all posters from the exhibition as well as selected posters by Honor Laureate Fang Chen will be available at http://welcome.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=07_poster_show by June 1.

The works of top poster artists and designers worldwide will be featured in the 15th biennial Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition hosted by the Department of Art in the School of the Arts at Colorado State University. The biennial event is the only exhibition of its kind in the United States. This year’s program will feature works of 87 artists from 31 countries that reflect international perspectives on political, social and cultural issues.

The 15th Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition will open Sept. 14 and run through Oct. 19 with a the main poster display divided between the Clara Hatton Gallery in the Visual Arts building and the Curfman Gallery in the Lory Student Center, located on the main campus of Colorado State. The exhibition will open with a public reception and poster sale from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14. Exhibition winners will be announced during the reception, and a limited number of copies of exhibition posters and catalogs will be available for purchase.

Five satellite displays will be hosted at the Lincoln Center where the Laureate, Directors, and High School exhibitions will be on display; Front Range Community College; Colorado State’s University Center for the Arts on Remington Street; First National Bank Gallery at Colorado State’s Morgan Library; and the Directions and Glass galleries in the Visual Arts Building.

Satellite exhibition locations will feature specific historical and geographic subjects. Highlights of this year’s satellite exhibitions are on the 20th anniversary of the Soviet Chernobyl disaster, located in the Glass Gallery, and a focus on Asian designers at the Morgan Library. In addition, an online component to the exhibition, entitled Graphic Responses, will feature works from graphic artists from around the world and Colorado State students, based on their visual responses to current world events.

Renowned graphic artist Fang Chen of China, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Arts at Pennsylvania State University, has been named honor laureate for this year’s poster exhibition. Chen has won several international design awards for his work in the poster format. His work is in prominent, permanent collections throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Chen will deliver a public lecture at an opening reception for the Laureate and High School exhibitions from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., in Fort Collins.

The Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition was founded in 1979 at Colorado State to bring outstanding examples of visual communication to an American audience. The exhibition is a model for presenting international cultural understanding and cooperation and provides insights into how the United States is perceived around the world. The exhibition presents a comprehensive look at the medium, its aesthetic and social implications, and its viability in the digital age.

The medium of posters as a means for visual communication is common outside the United States, said Linny Frickman, coordinator of the poster exhibit and director of the Hatton Gallery at Colorado State.

"The visual ingenuity displayed in the posters is extraordinary and speaks to the strength of the medium and to the importance of graphic communication in our world," Frickman said.

The 15th biennial Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibit was made possible, in part, through a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Fund, which was established to enhance the cultural development and atmosphere of Colorado State. Other supporters include, Colorado Council on the Arts, Fort Fund, and in-kind support from Citizen Printing and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle.

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The School of the Arts at Colorado State University provides an enriched venue in which the study and practice of art, dance, music and theater are nurtured and sustained by building the skills and knowledge needed by future generations of arts professionals to become contributors to the essential vitality of our culture and society. For more information, visit www.CSUSchooloftheArts.com.