Sign Language

Sign Language
August 24 – November 23, 2007
Des Moines Art Center Downtown

Sign Language explores art inspired by the vernacular of signs in the urban landscape, including billboards, neon signs, LED panels, and graffiti. The references to advertising and signage take various forms in art –– such as subject matter in a painting or print, as material in the use of neon and LED and LCD technology, as communication in message-driven work, or as style through the influence of the art of hand-painted signs, commercial graphic design, or street-based graffiti. Spanning art historically from Pop art to present, the exhibition includes the artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ashley Bickerton, Robert Cottingham, Keith Haring, Jenny Holzer, Robert Indiana, Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee, Michael C. McMillen, Bruce Nauman, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Claes Oldenburg, Julian Opie, Rigo 23, Kay Rosen, and James Rosenquist.

Sign Language is organized by Patricia Hickson, curator and downtown gallery manager.

Related Programs:

Gallery Talk
Patricia Hickson, curator and downtown gallery manager
Thursday, September 27, 6:30 pm, Art Center Downtown
FREE admission

Join curator Patricia Hickson as she discusses the work and themes present in this exhibition. The gallery will open at 6 pm.

Guided Tours
We are pleased to offer guided tours of Sign Language. Please schedule at least three weeks in advance. Contact Jennifer Cooley at 515.271.0328 or jcooley@desmoinesartcenter.org.

All tours Downtown are FREE.

Now Open
Second Saturdays
(during exhibitions)
11am – 4 pm
September 8
October 13
November 10