We’re still thrilled about the celebratory cover Philippe Apeloig created for our 200th issue in October, but the designer has since been busy with an important show in Amsterdam, the city that launched his career.
The ties between the French designer and Dutch design often go unremarked, but one can see the influence of Dutch modernism in Apeloig’s work – in his precision, outlines, minimalism and grid. Apeloig first went to Amsterdam in the 1970s, while he was studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré in Paris. While there, he was offered what was to be a life-changing internship at Total Design, the firm co-founded by Dutch graphic design guru Wim Crouwel.
Carolien Glazenburg, curator of graphic design at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, has been collecting Apeloig’s works since the turn of the new millennium, notably his posters. 'Nowadays, people are not used to looking any more, but in these giant posters, the closer you look, the more you see,' she says. Apeloig donated most of the posters in the show to the museum, where they will join its permanent collection, alongside his early Dutch modernist influences, such as Mondrian.
'Posters are like paintings,' says Apeloig. 'Which makes me think of the graphic and pictorial work of the constructivists, with their palette of primary colours – which inspired me greatly.'
The main exhibition room aims to bathe viewers in type; posters are arranged by hue instead of chronologically. Take a close look at his famous institutional design for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and the Fête du Livre in Aix-en-Provence, or his competition entry for Le Havre World Heritage poster design. Apeloig’s letters display a range of personalities: sometimes they stand singly, other times as part of a group; sometimes the effect is boisterous, at other times muted. In the centre of the room are four small showcases containing publication designs, including the pink and blue version of the Wallpaper* 200th issue.
Among the first designers to use computer technology in graphic design – a result of his internship with April Greiman in the USA in the 1980s – Apeloig often creates visual illusion and movement with type. The second room of the exhibition pays tribute to his animated works, which are rarely shown on the big screen, and features motion clips on smaller monitors to show his logo designs in progress. Outside the room are three iconic posters from Wim Crouwel, Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman, which not only help the visitor to understand the source of Apeloig’s early inspirations, but are also a sentimental tribute to the designer’s mentors.
Included in the exhibition is the brand-new typeface and celebratory animation - featured here - created to mark the 200th issue of Wallpaper*
Entitled 'Philippe Apeloig – Using Type,' the installation includes the designer's posters, digital graphics, publication designs and animations.
In the museum shop, a limited number of 'Using Type' exhibition posters designed by Apeloig and the shawl that he designed for Hermès (based on the book A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments by Roland Barthes) are available
'Nowadays, people are not used to looking any more, but in these giant posters, the closer you look, the more you see' says Carolien Glazenburg, curator of graphic design at the museum.
Three iconic posters from Wim Crouwel, Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman are also on display. Not only do they help the visitor to understand the source of Apeloig’s early inspirations, but are also a sentimental tribute to the designer’s mentors
Most of Apeloig’s poster designs are silk-screened at Brumath's Lézard Graphique in the highest quality possible for large-scale screen-prints.
Looping clips on smaller monitors show Apeloig’s logo designs in progress.
Left: Bruits du monde ('Noises of the World'), 2012. Right: Théâtre National Toulouse Midi Pyrénées saison 2012–2013, 2012
Left: TDC 54 Call for Entries, Type Directors Club, New York, 2007. Right: Vivo in Typo: Posters and the Animated Alphabet, 2008
INFORMATION
’Philippe Apeloig – Using Type’ is on view until 23 January 2016. For more information, visit the Stedelijk Museum’s website
ADDRESS
Stedelijk Museum
Museumplein 10
1071 DJ, Amsterdam
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