Fons Hickmann at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: Poster Art as a Visual Thought Image
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Fons Hickmann: Poster Art between Typography, Time Image and Visual Energy
On October 11, 2026, the exhibition Fons Hickmann. Posters of Today and Before opens at the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art – Diesel Power Plant Cottbus. The presentation looks back on three decades of independent poster design and on a designer who understands communication design as a cultural practice.
The Poster as a Visual Thought Image
Fons Hickmann, born in 1966 in Hamm, is among the defining German graphic designers, typographers and professors of our time. His works combine precisely set type, experimental image compositions, and a pronounced sensitivity to social communication. The poster does not appear merely as an advertising surface but as an independent form of visual argumentation.
Typography, Color and Surface
The exhibition makes visible how Hickmann works with contrasts, serial structures, photographic fragments, and typographic shifts. Type becomes form, surface becomes rhythmic order, and color becomes emotional signal. In the exploration of the works, an exhibition atmosphere arises in which design becomes immediately physically perceptible: concentrated, concise, and full of visual tension.
An Internationally Awarded Designer
The design studio Fons Hickmann m23, founded in Berlin in 2001, works on complex communication systems, corporate design, book, poster, magazine, and web design. Hickmann's studio has received numerous international awards, including recognitions from the Type Directors Club New York, ADC awards, Graphis Awards, the Joseph Binder Award and prizes in the 100 Best Posters competition. Hickmann teaches as a professor of communication design at the University of the Arts Berlin.
Cultural Education through Design
The presentation invites visitors to examine the everyday visual communication with a sharpened perspective. Visitors will experience how art-historical traditions of poster art connect with contemporary media aesthetics. The art experience thus opens access to questions of perception, public language and the cultural significance of design.
Conclusion: Experience Posters Live
Fons Hickmann. Posters of Today and Before promises a concentrated view of works between painting, typography, visual research, and applied art. Those who want to experience the effect of type, color, material, and space up close will find an inspiring example of contemporary poster culture at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus. A visit enriches aesthetic experience and makes visible how design shapes social reality.
Official Channels of Fons Hickmann:
- Instagram: no official profile found
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- Website: https://fonshickmann.com/
