April Greiman

This piece was not created by April Greiman, but was instead created to reflect Greiman’s work. It really has a double meaning, April being the month as well as her name. The work was created in 1998 for a lecture April was giving. This piece was sponsored by the Philadel-phia chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

April studied at Kansas City Art Institute as a graphic design major. At the Art Institute, April began to learn about and explore Modernism. Some of her professors at the Kansas City Art Institute had studied at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland. Enthused by her professors, April decided to attend the Basel School of Design to complete her graduate work.

Postmodernism is a term that is open to inter-pretation. Some feel that postmodernism is a tweak on modernist ideals. Others feel that postmodernism is a rebellion or reaction to previous political ideas that were deemed to be corrupt. Post modernism related to graphic design is more open to view points. There is not one specific standard that applies to all postmodern art. The notion about this movement is that it is what you make it. As a graphic designer, April reacted to the changes around her, used the ideas from modernism while embracing new outlooks and new changes. Tak-ing advantage of both old and new tools, April created postmodern and transmedia works.

Post Modernism occurred after the “New Wave”. It was popular in the late 1980’s, 1990’s and it even extends to current art practices.

E Q U A L I T Y

G R E S S

U S A

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THIS POSTAGE STAMP WAS CREATED IN 1998 TO CELEBRATE THE 19TH AMENDMENT, WHICH IS WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE. IN THIS WORK, GREIMAN EMBRACED THE NEW TECHNOLOGY BY LAYERING IMAGES DIGITALLY ON THE COMPUTER. THIS IS A VERY POSTMODERNISM PIECE BECAUSE IT CHALLENGES THE HISTORIC IDEAS THAT ONLY MEN COULD VOTE. IT HAS A FEMINIST UNDERTONES, AND EMBRACES OLD AND NEW IDEAS.

P R O

“Objects in Space”- This work was created in 1999. April Greiman is the head of the design consultancy, Made in Space. This piece is from the Made in Space collection. The work in particular emphasizes the way that Greiman challenged 2 dimensional design.

It portrays spatial visions and 3 dimensional qualities. The purpose of the work is to define space and challenge the idea of space limitations.

It was created digitally and printed by the 4-color offset lithography fluorescent process.

O b j e c t s i n S p a c e

“SAMITAUR CONSTRUCTS”

Samitaur Constructs was created in 2002. It is a poster for the Samitaur company. The company is an architectural firm that believes all people “should have access to the inspiration that flows from excellence in the arts, sciences and human-ities.” The three dimensionl spheres seen in the poster are part of the Samitaur logo. Namely, it is a green sphere that dots the ‘i’in Samitaur. Specifically the work was for the Venice Biennale.

“Think About What You Think About” was created in 2004. The poster was created for a lecture at California State Universi-ty of Sacramento. Specifically it was for the Festival of the Arts Lecture series. Like “Objects in Space” the work has very playful typography. This is characteristic of Greiman’s work as she rede-fines or even eliminates the idea of having grids and boundaries.

“Think About What You Think About”

Big Bowl of RiceBowl of rice- This is the largest of Grei-man’s work, which is a hand holding a bowl of rice. It was created in 2007. The mural cascades upon two 7 story buildings, which is the entrance to the Wilshire Vermont Metro Station in LA. It is video image from Korea town in oil paint. The piece is really a universal sign for sustenance.

Works Cited

1. Welcome to Made in Space. (N.d). URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://madeinspace.la/april.html (Objects in Space)

2. Hawthorne, Christopher. (2009). LA’s Great Signage Debate. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-notebook26-2009mar26,0,6958495.story (Rice)

3. Wilshire Vermont. (n.d.) URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://aprilgreiman.com/?page=public-art&id=wilshire-vermont (Rice)

4. Visit Koreatown. (n.d.) Willshire/ Vermont Metro Station. URL retrieved from http://visitkoreatown.org/wilshire-vermont-los-angeles-metro-station/ (Rice)

5. Sullivan, Nicola. (2009). April Greiman and Post-modernism Essay. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://nicolajaynesullivan.blogspot.com/2009/10/april-greiman-and-post-modernism-essay.html?zx=76ea9323dcda6b1a (Intro)

6. Sci-Arc Lecture. (2012). April Greiman: Think About What You Think About. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 fromhttp://www.sciarc.edu/lectures.php?id=1505 (Think about what you think about)

7. What is Art…What is an Artist?. (1998). Modernism and Postmodernism. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/modpostmod.html (Intro)

8. Greiman, April. (n.d.) Made in Space Shop. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://madeinspaceshop.com/ (Objects in Space)

9. Patel, Knur. (2008). SVA Honors Designer April Greiman for Taking Design Beyond the XY Plane. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 fromhttp://creativity-online.com/news/the-z-thing/131063 (Rice)

10. Russem, Michael. (2011). Postage Stamps by AIGA Medalists. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://observatory.designobserver.com/slideshow/postage-stamps-by-aiga-medal-ists/25128/1638/29 (stamp)

11. Samitaur. (2010). Samitaur Creates. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 fromhttp://www.samitaur.com/creates.html (samitaur)

12. William LongHauser/ Not By Design. (1998). April Greiman Poster. URL retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://www.longhauser.com/project.php?p=aprilGreiman

13. Pavlik, Alan.Photography. (2008). The Rice Bowl. URL Retrieved September 6, 2012 fromhttp://www.justabovesunset.com/photography/html/the_rice_bowl.html (Rice)

14. (2009) URL Retrieved September 6, 2012 from http://idsgn.org/posts/design-discussions-april-greiman-on-technology/(Think about what you think about)

15. http://www.designhistory.org/PostModern_pages/NewWave.htmleas.