18/11/08 – 09/01/09
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven
To celebrate Wim Crouwel’s 80th birthday (November 21, 2008), the
Van Abbemuseum and the Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam are looking back on the period
during which, in his capacity as graphic
designer, he designed catalogues, posters,
invitations and the letterhead for both museums.
In 1956, the then director of the Van
Abbemuseum Edy de Wilde gave Crouwel an
initial commission that resulted in a successful
partnership that was continued at the Stedelijk
Museum in 1964. Crouwel's designs became
legendary and remain a source of inspiration for
young designers to this day.
As an ode to graphic designer, museum director and professor Wim Crouwel, the organisers have put together an intimate exhibition with posters and catalogues from the early years of his oeuvre. In addition to this printed matter, the exhibition also comprises a selection of correspondence and work plans, offering a glimpse behind the scenes of museum practices in the 1950s and 60s.
Wim Crouwel
80
. 20
100
October 11 - November 23, 2008
VIVID Gallery, Rotterdam
To celebrate the 80th birthday of Wim Crouwel and 20 years Nijhof & Lee and VIVID Gallery organises the exhibition 80 | 20 | 100
100 works by Crouwel will be on display. For this VIVID gallery made a selection out of the superb Crouwel collection of Frank Nijhof and Warren Lee.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue designed by David Quay
Wim Crouwel
Wim Crouwel is a designer, artist, professor and museum
director.
His long and rich career includes...establishing a studio with the industrial
designer Kho Liang Ie;
He was responsible for many of the posters and catalogues of the Van Abbe
Museum in Eindhoven and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam from 1956 till
1982.
Crouwel cofounded Total Design, the first multi-disciplinary design studio
in the Netherlands, which became a dominant force in Dutch design.
Crouwel and his colleagues had significant influence on the national and
cultural identity of the Netherlands
In 1967 Crouwel designed the famous New Alphabet; he extended the grid
to become a matrix within which letterforms were constructed as units
on a grid, thus allowing for digital typesetting. Beginning in 1972 Crouwel
started teaching part time at the Delft Technical University, and in 1980,
he left Total Design to be a full time professor. In 1985 he became the
director of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam and also held
the Private Chair at Erasmus University, Rotterdam (1987-93)
Nowadays Crouwel is still working as a designer, primary designing important
art exhibitions like the
Vereniging Rembrandt exhibition in the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam also
opening in October this year.
The designs
of Wim Crouwel are still fresh. It contains the original spirit on which
a lot of contemporary design is based. Therefore his work is both inspiring
and influential for present and future generations. VIVID wants to demonstrate
this creative continuity.
vividvormgeving.nl