Eco Art: Graphic Design for Change

January 19 – March 30, 2013

Reception: January 25, 2013, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

The Riverside Art Museum is excited to present Eco Art: Graphic Design for Change, a design exhibition featuring approximately 100 posters designed by select international artists championing environmental awareness.

The posters in this exhibit are all part of The 4th Block’s Eco-Poster Competition, a design expo with more than 20 years of history that brings together the latest trends and innovations in the international environmental poster.

Poster Territory, a global initiative, waslaunched under The 4th Block’s umbrella in 2012. The goal of this project is to introduce audiences in different countries to The 4th Block poster collection while simultaneously raising awareness of today’s various environmental issues. We are proud to announce that RAM is the first host of the Poster Territory series of exhibitions that are planned to open throughout various cities in the United States and around the world.

Guest-curated by Ukrainian curator Olga Severina of The 4th Block design collective,these graphically compelling posters use design as a tool for addressing issues of transportation, air, and water pollution, surfacing into both literal and more esoteric manifestations. These issues directly and increasingly affect the lives of the everyday residents of Riverside and the surrounding Southern California region.

This exhibition is designed to inspire positive change in the community and promote design as a vehicle for awareness and actionable outcomes rather than its traditionally held passive role in consumer advertising. The exhibition also includes a collection of ‘eco-philosophical’ posters, which promote ecological values central to the global environment and sustainable lifestyles on a macroscopic scale.

RAM will present a number of activities in connection with the exhibition, including a free, multi-generational “City as Play” design workshop that invites participants to imagine our community through new eyes and complete an art project to reflect their vision. This activity uses found objects to represent different properties of the city and was developed by James Rojas, a notable city planner and expert in U.S. Latino cultural influences on urban design. Rojas is currently a project manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Olga Severina studied at the State Academy of Arts and Design in Kharkov, Ukraine, where she graduated in 2010 with a Ph.D. in Visual Arts. One of the courses that captured her attention was a class called the “Visual Language of the Poster” and following her growing curiosity with poster art, she became involved with an International Eco-Poster Exhibition by The 4th Block, where she currently serves as the chief curator.

Olga is a very active participant in the international design community where she continues to pursue her interests in poster exhibitions and design expos. In 2006 and 2008, she served as a Selection Committee member for the international graphic design exhibition Golden Bee (Russia) and curated an environmental poster exhibition Eco-Point (Ukraine).

In her more recent ventures, Olga has launched and participated in art shows and poster exhibits within the United States, among which are Eco-Deology: Cause and Effect (San Jose, CA), The Art of the Russian Avant-garde: Rodchenko 120 (Chicago, Indianapolis), and AIGA (Re)Design Awards 2011 (Los Angeles, CA).