Accession Number
2016/2.223

Title
Tokyo Communications Art

Artist(s)
Paul Rand

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1990

Medium & Support
offset lithograph on paper

Dimensions
35 ⅜ in x 25 ⅜ in (89.85 cm x 64.45 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips

Subject matter
Paul Rand abstracts an image of a bee pollinating flowers to the bare essentials. The bee is the most recognizable element of the image, but upon closer examination, it has been reduced to the most fundamental shapes. The flowers on the other hand are virtually unidentifiable because Rand depicts them as multicolored squares. Rand is cleverly referencing his frequent use of bright, saturated rectangles in other designs, except here the squares are symbolic. The design could be viewed as figurative, or as an assemblage of Rand signature stylistic choices. The imagery doesn’t correlate with the identity of the organization but instead is representative of good design.

EC 2017

Physical Description
A poster featuring a cascade of squares colored yellow, green, red, pink, purple, and dark green. In the middle, a black-and-white group of shapes and dots resembles a bee. Text in the lower right refers to the Tokyo Communication Arts and Osaka Communication Arts.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Apis (genus)
abstraction