TYPOGRAPHY SHOWS OFF AT THE GALLERY WITH MAN VS MOUSE
Typography: we see it everywhere and maybe we don’t even realize the impact it has. From road signs to store fronts to TV, this form of visual communication can set a mood and create a distinct identity, yet, it is often overlooked. Man vs. Mouse: A Typography Show brought letters into the spotlight at The Gallery on 17th Ave.
“Typography is quite prevalent in the design world,” said Aaron Ellard, owner of The Gallery and Understudy clothing stores. “You can build and entire identity around it.”
The twist with this show was how the artists created their piece. Four of them used their bare hands while the other three were armed with a computer mouse – hence the name of the show.“I was wanting to do a group show and looking at the roster of [local] artists, half were graphic designers and half were artists. I thought it would be a cool contrast,” Ellard said.
The show was varied and featured cleverly thought-out pieces from each artist. On the “man” side, Tiffany Wollman used wood to create an alphabetic typeface and plastic was used for a clever cutout of letter qualifications (MBA, Ph.D etc…)
James Deary really stepped up the complexity with his pieces. Each piece was done in fine-point black marker featuring a different arrangement of words. In one piece, he used leaves, logs and puffs of smoke to say ‘Peace, Love and High Fives.’ The digitally created art was just as varied.
Joey Camacho took a literal approach but with impact using a large ‘A’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ in different fonts. Done in grey, black and white, each font used was typed in a tiny font size at the bottom.
Graphic designer Ian MacFarlane had three distinctly different pieces. One was simply the letter ‘B’ but it was dressed up with jewel tones and sharp lines. Another piece featured a graffiti meets calligraphy style that read, “Insert cliché here.”
Each artist brought something different and showed the diversity and impact of typography. The work will remain up on the walls of The Gallery until November 24. Check it out at 113-1013 17 Ave SW, Calgary.
Words & Photography by Vanessa Conley
