News — Nov 1, 2013

Amsterdam, November 1, 2013 —

The Stedelijk Museum presents TYPE/DYNAMICS, and exhibition with work by graphic designer Jurriaan Schrofer combined with a presentation by the Dutch graphic design practice LUST. Jurriaan Schrofer (1926-1990) was a graphic designer, pioneer of the photo book, art director, lecturer, arts administrator and environmental artist. He is considered one of the Netherlands’ most influential graphic designers of the post-war era. Schrofer worked in all genres, from designing publicity materials to house style for magazines, and from advertising to typography. 

Curator Carolien Glazenburg: “Jurriaan Schrofer made a vital contribution to professionalizing the graphic design profession. He was an undisputed pioneer in the design of photo books and his book, Love on the Left Bank (with photos by van Ed van der Elsken) is very renowned.”

Frederike Huygen’s recently published doctoral thesis on Jurriaan Schrofer inspired the Stedelijk to organize the exhibition. Huygen calls Schrofer ‘a computer designer of the pre-computer age. Schrofer’s hand-created, visually dynamic work looks as though it was designed with the aid of a computer, but his working methods actually had far earlier origins. Schrofer experimented with spatiality on the two-dimensional plane with letters and typographical elements. 

Two galleries of almost identical size, in the Stedelijk’s design ring, are a conceptual reflection of each other. The first gallery features work from Schrofer’s extensive archive. A presentation by graphic design studio LUST that plays off and responds Schrofer’s designs, occupies the second gallery. Although both bodies of work share visual similarities, the underlying processes are poles apart. 

For LUST the computer is an indispensable tool. The designers are noted for their expertise in cutting-edge presentations of graphic design. With LUSTLab, they explore possibilities for applying new media and technologies.

LUST’s presentation is an interactive installation filling every wall with projections. Some walls react to data, and to the presence of visitors. In the Schrofer gallery, thousands of designs from the designer’s archive are presented on a pair of screens. 

The presentation at the Stedelijk reveals the disparities in research modalities in the pre and post digital age: what can be achieved with dynamic typography today in contrast to earlier manual techniques? The exhibition attempts to offer a glimpse of how typography may evolve in the future. 

About LUST

Founded in 1996, LUST is a multi-disciplinary graphic design practice that designs a broad spectrum of media from traditional printed materials to data visualizations, new media and interactive installations. LUST is a pioneer in exploring new ways of connecting design, art, architecture, urban design, new media and information technology. 

Note for editors:
For more information and visual material, contact Annematt Ruseler at the Stedelijk Museum Press Office on 020 – 573 26 60 or at pressoffice@stedelijk.nl.