I had the great fortune to get to the Museum of Modern Art on Sunday to see both Bobbie Solomon’s supergraphics in the lobby and the exhibit of her work alongside that of Bauhaus master Paul Klee. The pairing of this work by Joseph Becker, Associate Curator of Architecture and Design, and Marin Sarvé -Tarr, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, is inspired.
Text panel by curators.
The exhibit description (above photo) reads:
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Strips of Stripes
In 1965 Barbara Stauffacher Solomon (b. 1928, San Francisco) defined a new form of environmental design that integrated with and responded directly to the surrounding architecture. These "supergraphics," as they became known, began with her work for The Sea Ranch, a planned coastal community north of San Francisco. There, she cultivated a visual language that she has pursued ever since.
Strips of Stripes builds on Staffacher Solomon's long engagement with SFMOMA. Having trained at the California School of Fine Arts (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute), she left San Francisco in 1956 to study modernist International Style graphic design at the Institut Kunst in Basel, Switzerland. In the 1960s she opened a design office in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, bringing with her the crisp Swiss typeface Helvetica and a fluency in the grid-based rules of her training (as well as a penchant for breaking them). Between 1962 and 1972, she designed SFMOMA's monthly program guides, stretching bright letters and graphics to the edges of the page.
In this new site-specific commission for SFMOMA's Schwab Hall, Stauffacher Solomon draws on over six decades of work that has influenced graphic design around the world. Strips of Stripes connects the banded motif in the museum's 1996 Mario Botta-designed building with the open spaces of the 2016 expansion designed by Snohetta. Bright red diagonal lines, black-and-white angled patterns, and the letters "OK" playfully stretch across the walls and ceilings. As Stauffacher Solomon explains: "I'm saying it's okay.... Come in. Art welcomes you."
Joseph Becker
Associate Curator of Architecture and Design
Marin Sarvé-Tarr
Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture
Major support for Barbara Staffacher Solomon: Strips of Stripes is provided by the Roberta and Steve Denning Commissioning Endowed Fund.
Generous support is provided by the Patricia W. Fitzpatrick Commissioning Endowed Fund, the Diana Nelson and John Atwater Commissioning Fund, and the Denise Littlefield Sobel Commissioning Endowed Fund.
Community support is provided by Joachim and Nancy Hellman Bechtle and The Agnes Cowles Bourne Bay Area Contemporary Arts Exhibition Fund.
To see more work by Barbara Staffacher Solomon, discover KLEE + BSS: Paul Klee and Borbara Stauffacher Solomon in Open Ended on Floor 2
The exhibit description (above photo) reads:
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Strips of Stripes
In 1965 Barbara Stauffacher Solomon (b. 1928, San Francisco) defined a new form of environmental design that integrated with and responded directly to the surrounding architecture. These "supergraphics," as they became known, began with her work for The Sea Ranch, a planned coastal community north of San Francisco. There, she cultivated a visual language that she has pursued ever since.
Strips of Stripes builds on Staffacher Solomon's long engagement with SFMOMA. Having trained at the California School of Fine Arts (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute), she left San Francisco in 1956 to study modernist International Style graphic design at the Institut Kunst in Basel, Switzerland. In the 1960s she opened a design office in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, bringing with her the crisp Swiss typeface Helvetica and a fluency in the grid-based rules of her training (as well as a penchant for breaking them). Between 1962 and 1972, she designed SFMOMA's monthly program guides, stretching bright letters and graphics to the edges of the page.
In this new site-specific commission for SFMOMA's Schwab Hall, Stauffacher Solomon draws on over six decades of work that has influenced graphic design around the world. Strips of Stripes connects the banded motif in the museum's 1996 Mario Botta-designed building with the open spaces of the 2016 expansion designed by Snohetta. Bright red diagonal lines, black-and-white angled patterns, and the letters "OK" playfully stretch across the walls and ceilings. As Stauffacher Solomon explains: "I'm saying it's okay.... Come in. Art welcomes you."
Joseph Becker
Associate Curator of Architecture and Design
Marin Sarvé-Tarr
Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture
Major support for Barbara Staffacher Solomon: Strips of Stripes is provided by the Roberta and Steve Denning Commissioning Endowed Fund.
Generous support is provided by the Patricia W. Fitzpatrick Commissioning Endowed Fund, the Diana Nelson and John Atwater Commissioning Fund, and the Denise Littlefield Sobel Commissioning Endowed Fund.
Community support is provided by Joachim and Nancy Hellman Bechtle and The Agnes Cowles Bourne Bay Area Contemporary Arts Exhibition Fund.
To see more work by Barbara Staffacher Solomon, discover KLEE + BSS: Paul Klee and Borbara Stauffacher Solomon in Open Ended on Floor 2
There is a small book "Strips of Stripes" that accompanies the lobby installation that you should be sure to enjoy.
SFMOMA lobby with Supergraphics by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Bobbie studied graphic design in Basel, Switzerland, in the 1950’s at the Institut Kunst. The Swiss school of graphic design came out of the inspiration of the International Style as formulated at the Bauhaus by masters such as Klee.
Bobbie studied graphic design in Basel, Switzerland, in the 1950’s at the Institut Kunst. The Swiss school of graphic design came out of the inspiration of the International Style as formulated at the Bauhaus by masters such as Klee.
Exhibit Designed by BSS.
Exhibit designed by BSS.
Klee on the left. BSS on the right.
BSS.
This conscious pairing of Klee’s work and Stauffacher Solomon’s work exposes her debt to both a formal language but also a shared sense of humor.
This conscious pairing of Klee’s work and Stauffacher Solomon’s work exposes her debt to both a formal language but also a shared sense of humor.
BSS.
BSS.
The two images on the left are by Klee. The image on the right is by BSS.
The two images on the left are by Klee. The image on the right is by BSS.
BSS.
BSS.
The image on the right is by BSS. The two images on the right are by Klee.
I urge those who can to get to the show and see the work.
I urge those who can to get to the show and see the work.
Graphic design by BSS.
Logo for the show designed by BSS.
Villa analysis by BSS.
Villa analysis by BSS.
I particularly enjoyed the bulletins that Bobbie created for the museum between 1962 and 1972. They are beautiful.
I particularly enjoyed the bulletins that Bobbie created for the museum between 1962 and 1972. They are beautiful.
SFMOMA bulletins designed by BSS.
We had the pleasure of working with Bobbie at the Marin Country Mart to create the most wonderful of bathrooms.
We had the pleasure of working with Bobbie at the Marin Country Mart to create the most wonderful of bathrooms.
Women's room at Marin Country Mart collaboration between BSS and BCV.
Men's room at Marin Country Mart collaboration between BSS and BCV.
