Lobby and bar Cinema Světozor, Prague (1. 11. 2009 - 31. 12. 2009) —
With this intrudoctary exhibition, we have opened series of the Polish Film Poster exhibitions which belongs to an absolute top of the world graphic design. Same as in the series „The Golden Era of Czechoslovakian Film Poster“ we want to introduce the most famous Polish authors in separated exhibits in next few years.Exhibited posters are shown here
The Polish graphic (not only film) poster along with works of Czech graphic designers belongs to an absolute top of world graphic design. Polish posters are well-known all over the world and very often are sought after objects by collectors and admirers.
Polish poster school uses more painting technique than the Czech one, on contrary does not use typography and collage in such an extent that is typical for Czechoslovakian posters. Polish graphic designers and painters were the first (except of the Russian avant-garde) who had cultivated a resemblance of a film poster since the beginning of 50´s. The exhibition of Polish posters that took place at the turn of 50´s and 60´s in Prague had initiated a born of the Czechoslovakian poster and was a source of the inspiration for Czech graphic designers.
In contrast to the Czech reality (a support of a graphic posters production was stopped), the Polish artist poster is alive even after 1989. Although the production is lower, artist posters in Poland are produced not only for film, but also traditionally for theater, exhibitions, opera and circus.
The Polish state values and supports the work of these artists and is proud of it. There are two state poster museums in Poland, the state and its institutions organize a number of exhibitions abroad. Furthermore, monographies of famous Polish artist designers that surveys their large-scale poster works were published (on contrary in Czech republic was not published a monography of individual designers).
Polish designers as Jan Lenica, Roman Cieslewicz, Franciszek Starowieiski and the others became worldwide legends. They were heads of graphics ateliers at front European universities (Paris, Berlin). There is a demand after their posters and their admirers do not hesitate to pay sky-high amounts to buy them.
The Terry Posters´ collection comprises of about 900 Polish film posters which we got by an exchange abroad. In the past, we presented the Polish film poster during the two biggest film festivals in Czech republic already twice. It was at IFF in Karlovy Vary in 2007 and at 35. Film Summer School in Uherské Hradiště in 2009.
We are preparing a large exhibition called Confrontation in assosiation with the Museum of Cinematography in Lodz that will take place in May 2010 and will present almost hundred posters by Czech and Polish graphic artists for the same films. Viewers will have a possibility to consider which poster design – the Czech or the Polish one – expressed a subject-matter of the film more succesfully and compare basic distinctions between Czech and Polish poster school.