A fascinating selection of exhibition posters released by Whitechapel Gallery

Date
27 September 2012

Last weekend saw the London Art Book Fair ahead of its New York counterpart starting tomorrow, and among the many attractive propositions – for those who, like us, are perfectly placed in the art-book Venn diagram – were the Whitechapel Gallery’s sale of exhibition posters. If art is a mirror on society, then show posters are the very public point at which artists and galleries seek to convince the wider world of that mirror’s significance and so these are fascinating cultural documents.

But they’re also beautiful artefacts, and the design decisions tell us a lot about what these exhibitions from the 1970s, 80s and 90s were trying to say. Some of the posters will also go on sale on the gallery’s website next week – perfect if you missed out first time round.

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Alfredo Jaar (1992)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Boyd Webb (1987)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Antechamber (1992)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Martin Disler (1991)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Lucio Fontana (1988)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Tadeusz Kantor (1976)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: David Alfaro Siqueiros (1997)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Harold Kilngeholler (1990)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Tim Head (1992)

Above

Whitechapel Gallery Exhibition Posters: Ugo Rodinone (2006)

Share Article

About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.