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TADANORI YOKOO (1936- )
293
●
WORD IMAGE. 1968.
48
3
/
4
x17 inches, 123
3
/
4
x43
1
/
4
cm. Poster Originals
Ltd., [New York.]
Condition A-: minor creases in lower text and
image; unobtrusive scuffing in image. Silkscreen.
Paper.
For the seminal exhibition of 20th century
posters from the Museum of Modern Art’s
own collection, curator Mildred Constantine
assembled what Rita Reif referred to as “a
landmark presentation that helped define the
medium for scholars, graphics specialists and
collectors” (
New York Times
, June 26, 1988). The
exhibition focused as much on contemporary
images as historical ones, and the curators put
extra emphasis on the contemporary state of
graphic design by choosing Tadanori Yokoo to
design the exhibition poster. For this golden
opportunity, he created a very synthetic image
with no typography within the image to
distract the viewer. Using mouths and one
large eye, he perfectly evokes the concept of
“word” and “image.” He employs the rays of
the rising sun, one of his favorite and recurring
motifs, but here, makes the colors red, white
and blue for America rather than the Japanese
red and white. Yokoo 546.
[4,000/6,000]
293