Gallery 16 is delighted to present an exhibition of two Bay Area pioneers who worked in both the design and fine art fields: Rex Ray and Zuzana Licko.
Zuzana Licko
In the early 1990s, the San Francisco Bay Area was the epicenter of computer-based design. These two artists helped shape the future while straddling the fields of fine art and graphic design.
Zuzana Licko founded Emigre magazine with her husband, fellow typographer and graphic designer Rudy VanderLans, in 1984. Emigre set the standard for digital typography and design and led to the creation of the Emigre Fonts type foundry, which is credited for being the first digital type foundry. Their magazine started out as a very small, self-published culture magazine that quickly morphed into a graphic design magazine that evolved into one of the most significant forums for design of the past few decades.
Chloe Veltman wrote in the New York Times, "from 1984 to 2005, Emigre magazine achieved cult status. With their unconventional and striking use of fonts, publications like Wired and McSweeney's, both based in San Francisco, owe it a debt. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the entire Emigre magazine canon for its permanent design collection, and put the magazines on display for a year." The Emigre archive was acquired by The Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
Rex Ray
Rex Ray (1956-2015) began his career as a graphic designer but soon devoted his studio practice to the making of handmade fine art. He began his career creating digital designs produced as guerrilla marketing for nightclubs and rock shows. He made the first t-shirts and posters for ACT UP, the political advocacy group working on behalf of people with AIDS. By the mid-1990s, Rex, like many who toil before a computer screen, began to covet the analog. Fatigued with the digital and feeling a sense of rebellion against his design success, Ray created an outpouring of artwork using the simplest of tools: scissors and glue. His complex canvases and collages were a reaction to the hours spent on his computer. "As my graphic design business grew, my clients got bigger and the money they offered rose in direct proportion to the decline in creativity they required. The collage was my rebellion against that. I began by turning off the computers, unplugging the phones, sitting down and making collage. I'd do them to silence that internal critic we all have -- the inner voice that judges, raves, and berates us. I wanted to get back to that magic of making something out of nothing."
show less
Zuzana Licko
In the early 1990s, the San Francisco Bay Area was the epicenter of computer-based design. These two artists helped shape the future while straddling the fields of fine art and graphic design.
Zuzana Licko founded Emigre magazine with her husband, fellow typographer and graphic designer Rudy VanderLans, in 1984. Emigre set the standard for digital typography and design and led to the creation of the Emigre Fonts type foundry, which is credited for being the first digital type foundry. Their magazine started out as a very small, self-published culture magazine that quickly morphed into a graphic design magazine that evolved into one of the most significant forums for design of the past few decades.
Chloe Veltman wrote in the New York Times, "from 1984 to 2005, Emigre magazine achieved cult status. With their unconventional and striking use of fonts, publications like Wired and McSweeney's, both based in San Francisco, owe it a debt. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the entire Emigre magazine canon for its permanent design collection, and put the magazines on display for a year." The Emigre archive was acquired by The Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
Rex Ray
Rex Ray (1956-2015) began his career as a graphic designer but soon devoted his studio practice to the making of handmade fine art. He began his career creating digital designs produced as guerrilla marketing for nightclubs and rock shows. He made the first t-shirts and posters for ACT UP, the political advocacy group working on behalf of people with AIDS. By the mid-1990s, Rex, like many who toil before a computer screen, began to covet the analog. Fatigued with the digital and feeling a sense of rebellion against his design success, Ray created an outpouring of artwork using the simplest of tools: scissors and glue. His complex canvases and collages were a reaction to the hours spent on his computer. "As my graphic design business grew, my clients got bigger and the money they offered rose in direct proportion to the decline in creativity they required. The collage was my rebellion against that. I began by turning off the computers, unplugging the phones, sitting down and making collage. I'd do them to silence that internal critic we all have -- the inner voice that judges, raves, and berates us. I wanted to get back to that magic of making something out of nothing."
Gallery 16 is delighted to present an exhibition of two Bay Area pioneers who worked in both the design and fine art fields: Rex Ray and Zuzana Licko.
Zuzana Licko
In the early 1990s, the San Francisco Bay Area was the epicenter of computer-based design. These two artists helped shape the future while straddling the fields of fine art and graphic design.
Zuzana Licko founded Emigre magazine with her husband, fellow typographer and graphic designer Rudy VanderLans, in 1984. Emigre set the standard for digital typography and design and led to the creation of the Emigre Fonts type foundry, which is credited for being the first digital type foundry. Their magazine started out as a very small, self-published culture magazine that quickly morphed into a graphic design magazine that evolved into one of the most significant forums for design of the past few decades.
Chloe Veltman wrote in the New York Times, "from 1984 to 2005, Emigre magazine achieved cult status. With their unconventional and striking use of fonts, publications like Wired and McSweeney's, both based in San Francisco, owe it a debt. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the entire Emigre magazine canon for its permanent design collection, and put the magazines on display for a year." The Emigre archive was acquired by The Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
Rex Ray
Rex Ray (1956-2015) began his career as a graphic designer but soon devoted his studio practice to the making of handmade fine art. He began his career creating digital designs produced as guerrilla marketing for nightclubs and rock shows. He made the first t-shirts and posters for ACT UP, the political advocacy group working on behalf of people with AIDS. By the mid-1990s, Rex, like many who toil before a computer screen, began to covet the analog. Fatigued with the digital and feeling a sense of rebellion against his design success, Ray created an outpouring of artwork using the simplest of tools: scissors and glue. His complex canvases and collages were a reaction to the hours spent on his computer. "As my graphic design business grew, my clients got bigger and the money they offered rose in direct proportion to the decline in creativity they required. The collage was my rebellion against that. I began by turning off the computers, unplugging the phones, sitting down and making collage. I'd do them to silence that internal critic we all have -- the inner voice that judges, raves, and berates us. I wanted to get back to that magic of making something out of nothing."
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Zuzana Licko
In the early 1990s, the San Francisco Bay Area was the epicenter of computer-based design. These two artists helped shape the future while straddling the fields of fine art and graphic design.
Zuzana Licko founded Emigre magazine with her husband, fellow typographer and graphic designer Rudy VanderLans, in 1984. Emigre set the standard for digital typography and design and led to the creation of the Emigre Fonts type foundry, which is credited for being the first digital type foundry. Their magazine started out as a very small, self-published culture magazine that quickly morphed into a graphic design magazine that evolved into one of the most significant forums for design of the past few decades.
Chloe Veltman wrote in the New York Times, "from 1984 to 2005, Emigre magazine achieved cult status. With their unconventional and striking use of fonts, publications like Wired and McSweeney's, both based in San Francisco, owe it a debt. In 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the entire Emigre magazine canon for its permanent design collection, and put the magazines on display for a year." The Emigre archive was acquired by The Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
Rex Ray
Rex Ray (1956-2015) began his career as a graphic designer but soon devoted his studio practice to the making of handmade fine art. He began his career creating digital designs produced as guerrilla marketing for nightclubs and rock shows. He made the first t-shirts and posters for ACT UP, the political advocacy group working on behalf of people with AIDS. By the mid-1990s, Rex, like many who toil before a computer screen, began to covet the analog. Fatigued with the digital and feeling a sense of rebellion against his design success, Ray created an outpouring of artwork using the simplest of tools: scissors and glue. His complex canvases and collages were a reaction to the hours spent on his computer. "As my graphic design business grew, my clients got bigger and the money they offered rose in direct proportion to the decline in creativity they required. The collage was my rebellion against that. I began by turning off the computers, unplugging the phones, sitting down and making collage. I'd do them to silence that internal critic we all have -- the inner voice that judges, raves, and berates us. I wanted to get back to that magic of making something out of nothing."
show less
Date/Times:
501 3rd Streeet, San Francisco, CA 94107
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