‘Design of Dissent’ Title of Cal Poly University Art Gallery Exhibit

SAN LUIS OBISPO – “The Design of Dissent,” an exhibition that sheds artistic light on current news and world events, opens Friday, Jan. 11, at Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery.

To kick off the exhibit, international designer Mirko Ilić will talk about the role that artists and designers play in the dialog of political dissension. His talk will be 5 to 6 p.m. Jan. 11 in the Business Building Rotunda (Room 213). An opening reception is set for 6 to 8 p.m. the same day in the University Art Gallery, located in the Dexter Building.

The exhibit, which runs through Feb. 23, provides a glimpse at how artists and designers from around the globe address the constraints of government and the “powers that be,” according to Ilić. “The Design of Dissent” features over 100 political posters and other graphic art that focus on issues ranging from peace, animal rights and gun control to religion, the Iraq war, equality, women’s and gay rights and the corporate world.

The poster exhibition is based on the book “Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics,” authored by Milton Glaser and Ilić. “The works contain an element of discord, an appeal to justice, and an attempt to liberate some truth that lies beneath the surface of public discourse,” Ilić said.

“The Design of Dissent” showcases work from the 1960s to the present by artists from Argentina, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Palestine, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, the United States and the former Yugoslavia.

The exhibit and talk are free and open to the public. The events are sponsored by Cal Poly’s Department of Art and Design. The Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday or by special arrangement.

For more information, contact Jeff Van Kleeck at the University Art Gallery at 756-1571.

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