Spending hours wandering through art museums and galleries is my happy place. These three shows (all paper based) were immensely satisfying and fun.
Exploring three great exhibits on paper fashion, Japanese posters, and decorated paper and patterns over the past few months was delightful. Shooting the exhibits was even more fun. My collection of visual impressions highlight some of my favorites pieces and angles.
MAD (Museum of Arts and Design) is bursting with new exhibitions. Generation Paper, A Fashion Phenom of the 1960s is a knockout for fans of fashion from that era. These paper artifacts are rarely exhibited due to their delicate nature, I suppose, and we’re lucky to have such a robust show to explore their short history. At Poster House, the bold and powerful Made in Japan: 20th-Century Poster Art rightly takes the main stage, with other worthwhile exhibits to explore as well. The Grolier Club’s stunning Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper, 1960s to 2000s closed a few weeks ago, but can still be viewed online.
Below are selected highlights from each exhibit. Dig in!
Generation Paper @ MAD
The excellent Generation Paper: A Fashion Phenom of the 1960s exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design explores the short-lived paper fashion trend through more than 60 rare pieces. The fashions’ patterns were predominantly inspired by pop art, op art and the flower-power movement. Their iconic silhouettes and styles were relatively simple – from A-line mini dresses to bikinis – yet demonstrated the durability and design potential of newly developed paper-like synthetics including rayon, polyester and other blends. I’m not sure that I would have wanted to wear a paper dress or bikini, but I would love to have any one of them as a collectible.
Introduced in 1966 as a Scott Paper Company promotion, the clever campaign included two paper dresses as a giveaway that accompanied a range of disposable tableware. Paper fashions production soon exploded using the evolutionary materials of the time. One of my favorite fashion eras – paper fashions were a kind of swinging-60s fun with a unique look – bold with graphic imagery and a tactile nature (when viewed up close). From the kitsch of the Butterfinger and Campbell Soup dresses to the intensity of a Bob Dylan photo dress or imprints of 1960s headlines, no topics or graphics seemed to be off limits. In 1968, presidential campaigns even capitalized on the fashion craze.
Wearing paper fashions was fairly versatile. Dresses could be trimmed to any desired length. They could be gently ironed (inside out) and were fire and water resistant. No washing – they were designed to be disposable. But in 1969, the craze rapidly fizzled, partly due to changes in fashion, and also through the increasing awareness of the issues with disposable goods.
Brief but fun, the fad left a fantastic collection of mid-to-late 1960s fashion, art, social and political history for future generations.
Made in Japan: 20th-Century Poster Art @ Poster House
Illustrating the huge cultural and political shifts within modern Japan, this exhibition explores how poster art helped to reshape Japan’s image during the 20th century.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II – 1937 thru 1945, Japan was seen as (the exhibition states) “both an aggressor and a victim of war.” Its image was badly in need of a revamp. With explosive postwar growth in the manufacturing sector, the Japanese economy soared. The nation was quickly transformed by industrialization, urbanization and the onset of mass media.
Enter the modern poster – the perfect vehicle to represent Japan as its businesses became global brands for international audiences. During the wars, posters were designed to inspire patriotism and fuel propaganda. The flourishing post-war years gave the medium new objectives: Fuse modern identity with consumerism, and shape social, political and ideological values.
Japanese prints and woodcuts have a deep tradition from early 18th century ukiyo-e artists Hiroshige, Hokusai and Utamaro Kitagawa, to name a few. In the 20th century, Japan’s rich culture and printmaking history continued with new artists blending old techniques with new visuals and messages. Modern creatives drew from multiple movements including Pop Art, Surrealism and Dada while honoring Japan’s ukiyo-e style. By the 1960s and 70s, Japan’s image expanded with designers and artists creating posters with both eastern and western influences and incorporating new media such as silkscreening, bold visuals, intense palettes and imaginative, non-traditional typography. By the 1980s and beyond, Japanese posters tackled social, political and environmental issues.
With more than 70 gorgeous posters in the exhibit, I was intrigued by a few promoting The Beatles and The Monkees albums, looking quite different from western promotional posters. The face of the poster exhibition – Tanaka Ikkō’s 1981 Nihon Buyo created to promote traditional Japanese dance, music, and theater – will always be one of my favorites.
Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper @ The Grolier Club
The Grolier Club always presents rare and imaginative exhibits, and for this amateur bookbinder, Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper, 1960s to 2000s was a highpoint. (Note: this exhibition ended in early April, but can be viewed online here.) Over 50 innovative artists working independently and collaboratively helped revive the mostly forgotten art forms of marbled and paste paper design. Their gorgeous handmade papers, decorated-paper bound books, along with tools and processes were on full display.
Their beautiful designs elevated traditional decorative methods to create distinctive, modern pieces – one-of-a-kind papers often used for bookbinding, textiles, wall coverings and other decorative arts. The papers also utilize many different techniques – Western-style marbling, Japanese marbling, paste paper, stenciling and fold-and-dye technique.
Marbled vs Paste Paper
Marbled (or marbleized) paper is created by floating ink or paint on a liquid surface. The media is manipulated using tools such as combs, brushes or styluses to create a desired pattern which is then transferred to paper by laying it onto the surface of the liquid.
Paste paper is made by applying a colored paste made from wheat, water and pigments to paper with brushes, stamps or other tools. The paste can be applied in many ways to create different patterns, textures or designs.
Both techniques produce decorative papers with designs as varied as the work in the photos. Marbling patterns are typically more fluid and organic while paste paper designs are more geometric and structured. Both methods can handle subtle, somber tones or rich, intense palettes. The range of colors and tones displayed were beautiful.
The artists brought experimentation to the art of decorated paper – new tools and materials – for a fresh and expressive feel that was truly inspirational and commercially successful over the next four decades.
Oh, the paper I’ll be decorating and the books that I’ll be binding!
Any recommendations for shows worth a look?
Top montage/illustration and all photos: © 2023 Janet Giampietro.
