The enfant terrible of graphic design, Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister has made a name for himself on the international stage with his offbeat, playful and incredibly effective approach.
Grand-Hornu Images is dedicating its first major exhibition in Belgium to him.
Famous for his collaborations with musicians such as David Byrne and Lou Reed, brands such as Levi’s Jeans and BMW, and institutions such as the Casa da Música in Porto, the graphic designer has chosen to exhibit only commissioned work. This radical and unapologetic choice allows him to demonstrate that there is no “distinction between the so-called cultural world of graphic design and the commercial world”.
Divided into four sections (selling culture, selling corporations, selling my friends, selling myself), the exhibition also showcases Stefan Sagmeister’s writing—a language that deliberately defies any system or style. His work can nevertheless be defined by its constant oscillation between applied arts and fine arts, between humour and violence, and between the handmade and the use of new technologies.
Record sleeves, commercial catalogues, exhibition catalogues, posters, visual identities, logos and stories of irresistible humour are displayed in a scenography designed by Big-Game. Videos, notably recordings of his famous lectures, complement the exhibition. Stefan Sagmeister lives and works in New York.
The exhibition was conceived and produced by the mudac, Lausanne, Switzerland.
