Collection Overview
Curator's Statement
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Jake Nassif is a freelance copywriter living in Minneapolis and editor
of Mindgum, a design and marketing weblog
Susannah Schouweiler
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Susannah Schouweiler
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Art
and commercial communication are often cast as opposites, but the relationship
is, of course, more symbiotic. In a culture where consumerism is our unofficial
religion, marketing is as much the subject and aesthetic of contemporary art as
its antithesis, a dialogue visible in the work of
divide.
Artists
have long challenged the power of marketing by co-opting its style and
(see Mark Hayden's
tortured attempt at truth in advertising and
consumer culture, some artists embrace the language of marketing with a
playfulness bordering on affection
Deserve a Break Today poster celebrates the history of corporate identity
while encouraging us to stop shopping.
Other
artists find unexpected harmonies in the overlay of art and consumerism. Rico
Vallejo's image of a grocery aisle and Justin White's
Wal-Mart sketch have a loving quality, asserting themselves not in
opposition to commerce, but around and within it.
Marketing
culture is easy to criticize, but impossible to escape, a reality that
influences commercial creatives and fine artists
alike. One current of Minnesota's
graphic design tradition is a homey, vernacular style epitomized by letterpress
printing, hand-drawn typography and cheap materials. In its personal, modest
feel, this work shows nostalgia for a world not ruled by slick corporate
monoculture—a place that's increasingly hard to imagine, even for artists.
living in Minneapolis
and editor of Mindgum,
a design and marketing weblog. When he's not doing
his bit for consumer culture, his recent projects include an installation at
pop fanzine launching in June.