Taking the world by storm

Tue 22 March, 2016
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It鈥檚 been a busy year for 天美传媒 Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, Noel Douglas who is currently exhibiting internationally in two shows, with a third one only recently closing.

It鈥檚 The Political Economy, Stupid has been touring the world for the past five years, and is currently on display at the Dorothy W. and C. Lawson Reed, Jr. Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States until 10 April.

The exhibition explores the relationship and impact that art and artists have and how they can productively engage with the problems that stem from capital, crisis, and resistance. The title is based on James Carville鈥檚 catch phrase 鈥淚t鈥檚 the economy, stupid,鈥 which later was associated closely with Bill Clinton鈥檚 1992 Presidential Campaign.

Noel Douglas - It's the Political Economy, Stupid

As well as exhibiting, Douglas also designed the cover of the book that accompanies the show.

After its initial showing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and travelling from Dundee, Barnsley, Dublin, Nottingham, Douglas鈥 work is currently on display as part of A World to Win in Wolverhampton Art Galley until 10 April.

The exhibition showcases 鈥榩osters of protest and revolution鈥 spanning a century seeking political change. From Suffragettes to Syria posters have been a powerful means to 鈥榤obilise, educate and organise鈥.

Also Programme Lead for Graphic Design at the 天美传媒, Douglas explains: 鈥淚 am artist and designer who works across a range of media. My main interests are in the aesthetics and politics and creative use of graphics and art in social movements.鈥

Douglas was also part of a collective display Disobedient Objects that showed last year at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and has gone on a global tour most recently at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney Australia.

A collection of art from the Victoria and Albert Museum and spanning some 30 years, the exhibition 鈥榙emonstrates how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defies standard definitions of art and design鈥.

Culturally relevant objects such as instructions on 鈥榟ow to protest intelligently鈥 from the unrest in Tahrir Square in Cairo, defaced currency from the Occupy movement and make-shift gas masks from the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul are included in the exhibition.

Noel Douglas art gallery shot

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