Hosted by Maryland Institute College of Art

Casual attire

Free admission

As, Not For is an incomplete historical survey of work created by African-American graphic designers over the last century. These practitioners are absent in too many classroom lectures, and their methods mostly invisible or uncredited in the field. This exhibition aims to promote the inclusion of neglected Black designers and their developed methodologies and challenge the ubiquity of White and anti-Black aesthetics in our designed world.

The exhibited works are printed ephemera, all of which are authentic representations of Black culture in the time that they were created. Each work is reproduced and uniformly scaled—in solidarity— to 24’’ x 36” posters printed on sheets of resilient styrene. The exhibit seeks to question, inspire, activate, and challenge the design community and beyond with the objective of promoting deep history, design theory and aesthetics of African-Americans. As, Not For is organized by Graphic Design Teaching Fellow Jerome Harris under the direction of department Chair Brockett Horne, and advised by Mark Sanders.

Opening reception for As, Not For takes place in the Bronze Gallery, Brown Center. This event is free and open to the public. This exhibition is on view through September 30, 2018.