Presenting the exhibit Non conforme – The Underground Universe of Elzo Durt and Sebastien Lepine until September 23rd – You’ll definitely want to stop by the infamous UQAM Centre de Design to discover the unbelievable music world of these two emerging graphic artists.
Elzo Durt and Sebastien Lepine are both part of a contemporary movement of poster artisans who usually print their own works on silkscreen, in limited editions, and offer them for sale at music festivals and events dedicated to underground graphics. Some of these excellent, rare posters quickly become expensive collector’s items – But even more interesting is the impressive selection of posters featured from which you will most certainly recognize a band or two.
Presenting artworks that were used by musicians such as Jack White, The National, Sigur Ros and Beach House to name a few – This exhibits quickly become a satisfying game of references.
Conceived by curator and professor emeritus Marc H. Choko, the exhibition introduces the public to the work of two poster designers who studied graphic design before embarking on a practice inspired by their love of music. The works of both these artists, with similar backgrounds, break the constraints of archetypical conformity taught in schools. Addressing an informed public, their posters flaut the criteria of perfect readability, opting instead for a rich abundance of imagery and underground graphic references.
“Their posters express a universe unto itself, reflecting urban nocturnal culture – its concerts, its more or less legal substances – with a rebellious aesthetic peculiar to the counterculture,” says Marc H. Choko.
Originally from Brussels, Elzo Durt studied there at the École de Recherche Graphique. His posters comprise borrowings, collages and (often incongruous) juxtapositions, in a multicoloured palette, infused with psychedelic and punk influences. Highly recognizable, they have been featured in numerous exhibitions in Europe and the United States. Durt also creates album and magazine covers and develops visuals for skateboard, snowboard and clothing brands.
Sebastien Lepine
Sebastien Lepine studied graphic design at UQAM (BA Graphic Design 2001). His style, mixing photographic elements, frames, traces of colour, transparencies and overlays, is marked by continual experimentation and a quest for depth. His experiments play with the superimposition of colours, the decomposition of the image and the multiplication of planes.
Marc Choko – Curator
Marc H. Choko is a professor emeritus at the UQAM School of Design, where he has taught since 1977. He is also an author, lecturer and curator. He is a lover of posters, which he has collected since the mid-1960s. Since the early 1980s, he has been organizing exhibitions, including several as curator, and publishing a number of books.
Opening hours
Free admission
Wednesday to Sunday
Noon to 6 pm
UQAM Centre de Design
1440 Sanguinet Street , Montreal, Qc H2X 3X9
Berri-Uqam metro
[email protected]
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Written By Xavier Hebert – [email protected]
