Fons Hickmann at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: Poster Art as a Visual Thinking Image
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Fons Hickmann: Poster Art Between Experiment and Societal Reflection
The Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art – Diesel Power Plant Cottbus dedicates a concentrated solo exhibition to Fons Hickmann. The exhibition presents three decades of internationally award-winning poster creation and makes it tangible how typography, image, material, and societal stance merge into independent visual statements.
The Poster as a Visual Thinking Image
Fons Hickmann, born in 1966 in Hamm, is one of the defining German communication designers of the present. With his design studio Fons Hickmann m23, established in Berlin in 2001, he developed complex communication systems, book designs, magazines, digital media, and posters. His design approach follows the principle of understanding every project as an experiment.
The exhibition brings together posters from different phases of work and opens a historically fascinating view of the development of visual communication since the 1990s. In this context, the poster medium does not appear as mere advertising, but as an independent form of applied art, as cultural memory, and as a space for societal thought.
Typography, Color, and Visual Tension
In Hickmann's works, precise typography, surprising image collages, and strong color contrasts come together. Many posters were created as series for cultural clients and unfold their impact in interaction. Other works reflect on media, perception, and the conditions of graphic design itself.
The examination of the works navigates through different scales, rhythms, and image orders. Sometimes a single character stands out with great clarity, while meaning only arises through the tension between text, space, and photographic or illustrative material. Thus, an intense exhibition atmosphere develops in the exhibition space between immediate effect and analytical consideration.
Self-Assignment and Societal Topics
The commissioned works are complemented by self- and media-reflective posters as well as self-initiated projects addressing socio-political themes as paper interventions. Hickmann uses the poster as a public medium that gathers attention, raises questions, and triggers visual thought movements.
The BLMK collection was early enriched by works of the designer and has recently grown into a significant ensemble through extensive donations. This allows for particularly vivid tracing of the development of his artistic direction: from typographic setting to serial design to media-critical imagery.
Cultural Education Through Accurate Perception
The exhibition is suitable for all those interested in communication design, graphic design, contemporary art, and visual culture. It invites visitors to sharpen their perception and rediscover the aesthetic experience of the everyday medium of posters. Especially in a present shaped by digital images, it becomes visible what power a carefully composed surface, a precise letter, and a deliberately placed visual break can unfold.
Conclusion: Experience Poster Art Live
Fons Hickmann. Posters of Today and Before invites visitors as a stimulating art experience between graphic design, painting, visual research, and societal communication. The exhibition at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus opens new perspectives on typography, image design, and the cultural impact of the poster. Those who want to not only observe contemporary design but also experience its spatial effect and material presence should definitely visit this exhibition live.
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