Paper Trail: Letterpress and Screenprinted Posters
The exhibition features 25 works created through several printing processes. Enjoy images ranging from music, band, and concert posters to intriguing images that reveal their message through illusion and clever visual ruses.
About the Artist
Dirk Fowler is an Associate Professor of Art in Graphic Design at Texas Tech University and one half of f2design, an award winning design and printing studio in Lubbock, Texas. He has created letterpress posters and illustration for clients such as Wilco, The New York Dolls, Columbia Records, Wired, Billboard, Texas Monthly and The New York Times. His work has been awarded by the American Advertising Federation, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Type Directors Club and Society of Publication Designers and has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, Novum, PRINT, Communication Arts and numerous books including the Art of Modern Rock, New Masters of Poster Design and Impressive. He has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in museums and galleries around the world, including international poster exhibitions in China and Mexico.
From the Artist
Artist, designer, printmaker, professor… I answer to these titles and many more, but I prefer to describe myself simply as a visual problem solver. At its core, graphic design is problem solving and for my work to be successful, I must have that problem to solve. If one doesn’t exist, I will create it. Though I work best when clients allow creative freedom, I also enjoy constraints. Limited color palette, use of simple shape, abundant white space and strong concept are characteristic of my posters. I embrace the confines of an 18 by 24-inch rectangle. I am interested in this rectangular poster as not only an advertisement for a concert or an event, but also as a vehicle for social awareness.
Most of my life, I have been consumed by and obsessed with two things: listening to and collecting music, and making art. For the last 25 years, I have been combining these two passions into creating limited edition, hand printed letterpress and silk screen concert posters. Representing a band and their music in a simple, graphic, honest way that engages the viewer and endears the fan is always a challenge. I still enjoy this challenge. The posters in this exhibit represent only a small selection of my work from the last few years. The unifying theme is simplicity, a degree of cleverness, and in most cases music. The posters were commissioned by the band or event and were originally used for promotional purposes.
The famous graphic designer Saul Bass said, “design is thinking made visual”. I hope you enjoy seeing the way I think.
Dirk Fowler
June 24, 2022
Paper Trail Exhibition
