Per Arnoldi | Advertising Art
On view October 30, 2024 - March 31, 2025
Exhibition Type
temporaryShare this Exhibition
Per Arnoldi needs little introduction – art museums around the world have collected his posters as magnificent example of minimalist art. The bold primary colors and simple shapes Arnoldi uses belie a surprising amount of depth, creating memorable scenes out of a handful of lines and blocks. Arnoldi has been lauded for his skill, with exhibitions of hundreds of his posters at museums all around the world.
These posters are not ‘fine art’ in the traditional sense of the term, though. They are advertisements, created on commission to persuade audiences of something – attending a concert, buying tickets to a sports match, or supporting a philanthropic cause.
In our world, inundated with billboards, sponsorship reads, video ads, flashing lights and videos that play automatically, the simplicity of Arnoldi’s posters makes them memorable as advertisements. They are also a little easier to understand than many advertisements we see every daily. I chose to create this exhibition to explore how these posters work, and in turn offer an entry point to reflect on how other advertising affects us.