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The poster as autobiography

The poster as autobiography image
Parent Issue
Day
22
Month
June
Year
2003
Copyright
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

W.C. Burgard's 1999 Ann Arbor Summer Festival poster is part of the display at the Power Center.

The poster as autobiography

Themes artist pursued - and history of Summer Festival as well - are illustrated in work rarely seen as collection

ART REVIEW

BY JOHN CARLOS CANTU

News Special Writer

'Twenty Years of Festival Posters by W.C. Burgard” features images seen by most Tree Town residents at one time or another. As a collection, however, it’s been seen by very few.

The images at the University of Michigan’s Power Center for the Performing Arts are among the most instantly recognizable promotional artworks we’ve seen through this last two decades. And “Twenty Years of Festival Posters” gives us the artist’s thumbprint.

The contrast is fascinating.

In a recent interview with The News, Burgard said he decided to craft a poster to celebrate the first Ann Arbor Summer Festival in 1984 because the new event didn’t have a logo or identity

“They kind of built the festival around (Marcel) Marceau,” Burgard said, “so all my images had something to do with him.” It was smart move on Burgard’s part - effectively creating a brand identity, so to speak - but this design also set him on a path that after 20 years is equal parts Summer Festival biography, Burgard autobiography, and a lot of really good art.

Seeing the 20 posters side by side gives the viewer a chronological history of the Summer Festival because Burgard’s posters reflect the ebb and tide of this annual event’s history. Years of anxiety are contrasted against years of plenty as Burgard’s gallery cards give us a chronology of the festival that’s coherent and informative.

As for Burgard himself, these posters illustrate the themes he’s pursued through this part of his career. Celebrities include Marceau and Ray Charles (1991), as well as the many other performers that have been the festival’s stock-in-trade. Also on display are Burgard’s famed whimsical “Peacock” (1989); “Grasshopper” (2000); “Leaping Dog” (1993); the Claus Oldenburg-inspired “Ice Cream Cone” (1985); and other fanciful topics.

The real treat is the works themselves. A remarkably diverse set of printmaking skills is fused with dextrous mixed-media application. Subtle motifs crop up irregularly from year to year in the poster designs, and Burgard’s materials have an understated continuity that indicates they are part of a unified project.

Indeed, there’s a simple commercial artist’s trick to studying these works. First, examine the varied mixed-media elements - for example, the ruffled cardboard on 1992’s “Lady Bug” or the vivid patches that constitute 1999’s frenetic “Swing Dancers” -and note how Burgard’s handling of his materials create wholes out of disparate visual elements.

But then slightly squint your eyes at a reasonable distance - and the image is unified and the work is complete. Burgard subordinates the parts of his arrangement to build a composite image, using the poster’s scale to influence its compositional balance.

As this exhibit clearly indicates, the festival has a winner in Burgard - both in terms of quality of art and stylistic continuity. Although it is inevitable that change will come, Burgard’s art is arguably as valuable as any other infrastructure aspect of the festival.

"Twenty Years of Festival Posters by W. C. Burgard" will continue through July 5 at the University of Michigan Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121N. Fletcher St. Public viewing is one hour prior to all scheduled performances. For information, call (734) 763-6780.