Confessions of a Design Thief:
Garth Walker
An exhibition on Garth Walker’s first US
retrospective of his work currently on exhibit in the Dr. M. T.
Geoffrey Yeh Art Galleryat St. John’s University’s Queens
campus.
Widely regarded as the pioneer of post 1994 ‘South African rooted
graphic design’, Garth has taken the gospel of African creativity
to conferences and workshops in more than 20 countries on all 5
continents. His image archive on South African vernacular street
and township design is the largest extant, and covers literally
everything from gravestones to type, signage and architecture.
Garth Walker founded two of South Africa’s best-known graphic
design studios. Orange Juice Design in the early 1990s (acquired by
Ogilvy South Africa), and more recently in 2008, Mister Walker.
Both studio’s work in the corporate sector for many of SA’s best
known brands on both large and small projects across a wide range
of disciplines. But Garth’s real interest lies in “what makes
me African – and what does that look like?” This forms the basis
for much of his personal work. Since 1995 he has published his
experimental studio graphics magazine
ijusi, to world-wide acclaim. The
non-commercial magazine provides a platform for creatives globally
to explore their own personal views on the African experience.
Garth Walkeris represented or exhibited in the
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
Minneapolis Art Institute, International Center of Photography,
National Portrait Gallery (UK), Boston Institute of Contemporary
Art, Biblioteque Nationale de France, Victoria & Albert Museum
(UK), The Smithsonian and numerous university and academic
collections worldwide. His has been featured in well over 100 books
and magazines. Garth is a member of Alliance Graphique
Internationale (AGI), British Design & Art Direction
(D&AD), The Type Directors Club (TDC NY) and The St Moritz
Design Summit. He is a founding Trustee of the South African Brand
Design Council (BDC).
On Exhibit
January 18 - March 5, 2011
Opening Reception
Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 6 - 9 p.m.
Artist’s Talk
Meet the Artist “Confessions of a Design Thief: Garth Walker”-
Building Cultural Identity Through Design. Wednesday, March 2,
2011, 4:30 – 6 p.m. St. Albert’s Hall Room B70
Location
Dr. M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery
Sun Yat Sen Hall
St. John’s University
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, NY 11349
Tue. - Thurs.: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fri.: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Sat.: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Mon. and Sunday closed
Curated by Prof. Elizabeth Deluna
Sponsored by
St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
This exhibition is free of charge and accessible to the
handicapped.
For more information on this exhibit, or for directions please call
(718) 990-7476.