New show at Devon Guild - letters, text and alphabet shapes

The exhibition 'Signs for Sounds ' focuses on contemporary letterforming and calligraphy. It runs at the Guild from Saturday 17 September - Sunday 30 October 2011.

This fascinating new exhibition explores the diversity and impact of letterforming, from traditional calligraphy to today's hi-tech font design, virtual typography and street art.

A selection of international artists and designers present letters, writing and words in unusual contexts and various media. Gary Breeze's stone-carvings look at the similarity between Roman abbreviations and today's shortened 'txt-spk'. Incisive Letterwork focus on the sound of words being cut-out and Ina Saltz's work is devoted to word-based tattoos inked upon the skin.

Work also covers designer fonts by Brody Neuenschwander and grafitti by urban artist Bunny Bread. Visitors can watch Falmouth-based Timothy Donaldson creating 'unreadable’ words with giant brushes. A new typeface produced by Jeremy Tankard asks whether a font can talk in different accents and viewers can interact with virtual typography as they move letters and words on touchscreen monitors. A specially designed APP for interaction with this exhibition is available to download. (Available free from iTunes music store, Sept. 4.)

The exhibition will travel beyond Devon as part of a wider tour to galleries as far afield as Kent, Wolverhampton and Sunderland. Organised by Nottingham’s Harley Gallery with curator Jeremy Theophilus, the Guild is proud to begin the tour with a launch and special performance on 16th September by Julien Breton known for ‘dancing’ his letters using physical movement and light. The Guild’s curator Emma Mahanay says: ‘We hope Signs for Sounds will bring the art, and craft of lettering to life. It’s a thought-provoking show and people of all ages will have a great time experimenting with stenciling, drawing and D.I.Y lettering in the gallery.’ The gallery resources, backgound material, books and other information provide a comprehensive overview of how and why alphabets and the act of recording and inscription is significant, culturally, socially and creatively.

Exhibitors: Phil Baines & Catherine Dixon, Bunny Bread, Gary Breeze, Julien Breton, Ewan Clayton, Tim Donaldson, Incisive Letterwork, Jason Lewis/OBX, Brody Neuenschwander, Tom Perkins, Jeremy Tankard and Ina Saltz.

The exhibiition is FREE and open daily from 10am-5.30pm.

For more information visit http://crafts.org.uk/