Hasta La Ideas

A forthcoming London show features some great examples of 1960s and 70s Polish film and theatre poster design collected by archive and shop, Eye Sea Posters…

From October 19, a selection of posters will be shown in the Iluzjon exhibition at 18 Hewett Street in east London. The rare examples on display (and for sale) will include posters by Wiktor Górka, Waldemar Świerzy, Franciszek Starowieyski, Andrzej Krajewski, Jerzy Flisak, Maria Ihnatowicz, and Jan Młodozeniec.

Czarna Komedia by Franciszek Starowieyski, 1969

What typically makes Polish film and theatre posters of this time so distinctive is an avoidance of recognisable visual references from many of the films in question.

Under communism, Poland’s state run film and theatre organisations commissioned original works by poster artists, often rejecting the imagery that accompanied Western film promotion. As a direct result, however, these Polish artists created some of the most expressive and often surreal designs ever committed to poster form.

Presented by Protein, Iluzjon is on at 18 Hewett Street from October 19 to 29. Eye Sea Posters’ extensive archive of posters is at eyeseaposters.com. London-based artist and curator, Stanley Schtinter, will also be curating an evening dedicated to Polish cinema; while Protein will be hosting a Forum event that explores the history and influence of Polish poster and graphic design.

Budowniczy Solness by Waldemar Świerzy, 1971

Klute by Jan Młodozeniec, 1973

Harem by Andrzej Krajewski, 1971

Read our post from almost exactly a year ago when we first wrote about Eye Sea Posters and talked to founder James Dyer here.

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