Michigan Modern: Killing it and Shifting Landscapes: Selected Works by Michael Pfleghaar
Post WWII. The economy was booming and a new breed of graphic design was on the rise. Right here in West Michigan, companies like Herman Miller and Upjohn were putting complete trust in designers, giving them the freedom to break free of tradition and produce work that was way ahead of the curve. These companies were "killing it," and the world was quickly taking notice. Featuring advertisements, brochures, annual reports, posters, catalogs, textiles, and packaging materials from this enormously important era of graphic design, Michigan Modern: Killing It highlights the trends that were born out of this bold work and explores its influence on the graphic designers of today. Curators: Michele Bosak, Barbara Loveland, and Linda Powell. Drawing parallels to regional painters from the past century, Shifting Landscapes presents the medium-bending work of Michael Pfleghaar alongside selections from KCAD's expansive Gordon Collection. Existing somewhere between representation and abstraction and inspired by modern design, Pfleghaar's process of deletion, isolation and exaggeration moves his work beyond traditional painting by melding paint, canvas, and utilitarian three-dimensional forms into new physical objects.
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