Fons Hickmann in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus: Experience three decades of poster art
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Fons Hickmann: Poster art as a visual thought image in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus
The exhibition Fons Hickmann. Posters of today and before is dedicated to one of the most prominent German communication designers of the present. On November 14, 2026, the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus will open a visual thinking space between typography, image, material, and social reflection.
Three decades of internationally awarded poster creation
Fons Hickmann, born in Hamm in 1966, founded the design studio Fons Hickmann m23 in Berlin in 2001. His graphic work includes complex communication systems, book designs, magazines, and posters. Since the 1990s, his work has followed an experimental approach, where each project appears as an independent investigation of perception and visual language.
The solo exhibition spans three decades and focuses on Hickmann's award-winning poster creation. The Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art has collected his works early on. A substantial donation from the designer has expanded the collection into a significant compendium.
When writing becomes an image
Hickmann's posters combine conceptual clarity with visual experimentalism. Writing becomes form, surface acquires rhythmic tension, and color acts as an emotional signal. Clear grids meet disturbing image motifs, serial structures collide with photographic fragments, and typographical shifts guide the viewer's gaze through the composition.
Many works were created for cultural clients and unfold their impact in series. They are complemented by self- and media-reflective designs as well as posters on self-commissioned projects. As paper interventions, these works negotiate socio-political themes and showcase the poster as a public sign, cultural memory, and independent art form.
Aesthetic experience in the former Diesel Power Plant
The industrial spatial effect of the Diesel Power Plant enhances the tension between graphic precision and material presence. Between paper, print image, and architecture, a concentrated exhibition atmosphere is created. The viewing of the works makes it immediately tangible how design condenses information, directs perception, and visibly shapes social reality.
Cultural education through communication design
The curation opens art historical access to modern poster art and the development of visual communication. Fons Hickmann teaches as a professor of communication design at the University of the Arts Berlin. His studio has received awards from the Type Directors Club, Graphis, ADC, the Joseph Binder Award, and in the competition 100 Best Posters, among others.
The art experience is aimed at art enthusiasts, design lovers, and anyone who wants to view visual everyday life with a sharpened eye. The exhibition connects applied arts, typography, visual research, and social reflection into an inspiring aesthetic experience.
Conclusion: Experience poster art live
Visitors can expect an intense encounter with color, writing, surface, material, and public visual language. Fons Hickmann. Posters of today and before demonstrates how independent cultural expressions arise from communication design. Those who want to experience the aesthetic power of the poster directly and sharpen their view of visual communication sustainably should definitely visit this art experience live in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus.
Official channels of Fons Hickmann:
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- Website: https://fonshickmann.com/
