Exhibition poster by Gunter Rambow
Wojciech Suchocki
proudly invites to opening
the exhibition of posters of Gunter Rambow
Laureate of the Jan Lenica Award 2004
Sunday July 20, 2008, 12.00
The National Museum in Poznan, Poland
Al. Marcinkowskiego 9
time: 20.07.2008 - 24.08.2008
place: The National Museum in Poznan
works: 162 posters from the period between 1960-2008
www.mnp.art.pl
www.gunterrambow.de/
After the death of Jan Lenica in 2001 the National Museum in Poznan put forth a proposal to award a Jan Lenica Prize to commemorate this renowned artist, a native of Poznan and a longstanding friend of the Poznan Museum. The prize was to go to a particular poster in the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. We were determined to find a laureate from among those authors whose oeuvre would reflect a position similar to that adopted by Lenica, i.e. would transcend the narrowly-construed confines of the profession of a graphic designer. Lenica would grow indignant when he was called a graphic designer; he deemed himself an artist who used poster, illustration, or animated movie to express in a creative and fully autonomous way his attitude towards the surrounding world.
While Gunter Rambow and Jan Lenica are worlds apart, Rambow - like Lenica - developed his own programme through posters and other artistic genres; the programme moved significantly beyond the performance of a particular task or execution of a particular order, as can be witnessed in his extensive artistic output. Rambow's oeuvre was quickly appreciated and earned him an imposing number of the most prestigious awards in international poster reviews in Warsaw, Fort Collins, Essen, Brno, Mons, Chaumont, Moscow, and Toyama.
In March 2008 Gunter Rambow celebrated his seventieth birthday. His exceptional talent goes hand in hand with years of extremely intensive work that has resulted in an extensive artistic output. For many years now Rambow has belonged to a circle of the most eminent poster artists of the world. He was also involved in editorial graphic design and education in a few art schools in Germany. Since 2003, when he retired, he has designed posters, and in his gallery in Guestrow he has successfully held exhibitions of major poster artists from various countries. He has honorary duties at the universities in Wuxi and Shanghai, China, and is planning on setting up an international art school in Guestrow.
Gunter Rambow's marvellous donation of over 300 of his posters helped the National Museum in Poznan to hold a retrospective exhibition showing all the major stages of the artist's artistic development and his works of the greatest significance.
Zdzislaw Schubert
Biographical note
Gunter Rambow was born on March 2, 1938 in Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). Initially studied painting on glass in the Staatliche Glasfachschule, Hadamar (1954-1958). Then studied graphic design under Hans Hillmann in the Hochschule fuer bildende Kuenste, Kassel (1958-1964). In the period 1974-1987 he taught graphic design in the Gesamthochschule, Kassel. Since 1987 a professor of visual communication at Kassel University (1987-1991) and in the Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Karlsruhe (1991-2003), where in the period 1999-2001 he was Vice-Chancellor.
Since 1998 an honorary director of the Research Centre of International Poster in the Southern Yangtze University School of Design, Wuxi (China) and an honorary Chancellor of the Research Institute of Design and Art at Tongji University, Shanghai.
In 1960 together with Gerhard Lienemeyer he founded a studio of graphic design Rambow + Lienemeyer, in operation in Kassel (1960-1964), Stuttgart (1964-1967), and Frankfurt am Main (1967-1969). From 1967 until 1974 in collaboration with Lienemeyer he ran the Kohlkunst Verlag Publishing House in Frankfurt am Main. In the years 1969-1989 he collaborated with Gerhard Lienemeyer and Michael van de Sand within the Studio Rambow / Lienemeyer / van de Sand in Frankfurt am Main. After terminating cooperation with Lienemeyer, the studio (Rambow, van de Sand) continued its operation in Frankfurt am Main (1989-2000), Berlin (2000-2005), and as of 2005 it has been based in Guestrow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).
Rambow is a graphic designer, poster artist, and photographer; he is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 1974 and of the Deutscher Werkbund (DWB) since 1977.
On retiring in 2003 he settled down in Guestrow, where he moved into a former city palace of Count von Luehe from 1582. He continues to design for theatres, museums, and television. The seat of the Studio hosts a Poster Gallery, which displays works by world-renowned poster artists.