Swiss Style Now in Beijing

“Swiss Style Now” will present an overview of Swiss graphic design from the last five years to reveal a wide range of approaches, techniques and media utilized by contemporary designers. It will feature 127 works from different generations, showcasing different motivations and influences. Supported by Pro Helvetia Shanghai, Swiss Arts Council, the exhibits have earlier showcased at 2016 Shanghai Art Design at West Bund Art Centre in Shanghai and at the Folk Art Museum of China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Since then, the exhibition has toured to New York, Hong Kong, and Macau. Reprogrammed and reclassified, this updated version of the exhibition will be shown anew at Lens Space in Beijing.

The aesthetic of Swiss style is the famous model of the graphic design of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for its use of minimal grid-based systems and its cold, impersonal approach. It was born during an era of heavy industrialization when there was a need for a simple visual language that could be understood by many within international trades. Today, design and advertising have changed but Swiss graphic design, with its important role in design history, is still often reduced to those clichés. The philosophy of the pioneers of Swiss design, with their strict rules and grids, has had an influence on contemporary Swiss designers, but the Swiss style today is much more diverse, emotional and fun.

This exhibition will offer an insight into the fascination for details, experimentation, and craftsmanship that goes into creating visionary new designs. The visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to draw their own conclusions as to what they view as being Swiss style now.