Opening Events Set for 15th Biennial Colorado International Invitational Poster Show

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. These downloadable, print-quality images of 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. A full, downloadable list of opening and closing dates and CIIPE events is available at www.newsinfo.colostate.edu and clicking on the header for this release.

The works of 87 premiere poster artists and designers from 31 countries 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.

The show will open with a public reception and poster sale from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14 in the lobby of the Visual Arts Building. Directors of the poster exhibition, honor laureate Fang Chen and other special guests will speak in an opening ceremony to begin at 6:45 p.m. Exhibition posters will be for sale on a first come/first serve basis. Full-color catalogues of the exhibition will also be for sale.

The main poster exhibition is 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. For more information, visit http://www.sota.colostate.edu/ciipe/2007.html.

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 during an opening reception for the Laureate, Director and High School exhibitions from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St., in Fort Collins.

The Asian Masters of the Graphic Arts exhibition will open at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11 in the First National Bank Gallery of Morgan Library, located on Colorado State’s main campus. This exhibition will feature work by Chen, along with other prominent artists from China, Japan and South Korea. These artists were featured in previous Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibitions and are also represented in the International Poster Collection which is housed in the Colorado State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

The Asian Masters exhibition will open with a presentation by Chen. He will focus on the role that these posters have played in addressing public issues including global peace, environmentalism, human rights, public health and social justice. The event is free and open to the public. This exhibition will run through December 2007 during all Morgan Library open hours.

Four other 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; Bas Bleu Theatre, Colorado State’s University Center for the Arts on Remington Street; 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.

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 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, Rocky Mountain Chronicle, All Occasions Catering and the Hilton Fort Collins.

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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.