Art Knowledge News
Jane Davis Doggett Installation Showcases Unique "Visual Language" |
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| Written by Rupert Kennedy |
| Sunday, 24 January 2010 01:00 |
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Doggett recently invented the concept of IconoChrome™ images—“geometric designs in colors expressing philosophically profound messages” drawn from such sources as Roman proverbs and the Bible. Talking Graphics consists of these colorful designs, which have been converted to vector graphics and printed as books and on large panels for exhibition. Doggett has created a visual language to articulate proverbs, quotations, and sayings from a variety of cultures. Doggett explains, “In creating an IconoChrome, I interpret and project the essence of a written message using graphic symbols, or icons, which are structured from basic geometrics—circle, square, triangle—in interaction with color, or chrome. This is a process of translation of the meaning of the message, not with words, but visual images.”  You may not know it, but you've almost
certainly seen the work of graphic designer Jane Davis Doggett. After getting her M.F.A. at Yale in
1956, she pioneered the field of architectural and environmental graphic
design, finding her own indelible niche: creating thematic graphic
identity and “wayfinding” signage for mass public complexes,
including Madison Square Garden, The Whitney Museum of American
Art and 40 international
airports—among them Tampa, Baltimore-Washington, Miami, Newark, Cleveland-Hopkins and George Bush-Houston.“The images are for the ear and the eye,” Doggett said. “When we read, we always hear the words. The ear and eye take it in at the same time. “They’re nice to look at as that kind of modern art, but what I was doing was expressing the meaning of the words.” “Talking Graphics” includes expressions of proverbs as simple as “the grass is always greener” to a multipaneled artistic interpretation of the 23rd Psalm. The artist is very pleased with the way everything came out. “I think it’s just the purity of it,” she said, “the leanness of it. It’s like our response as children with crayons — it has that color response, and it’s made so simple it’s sort of the opposite from Baroque. “Just using simple shapes and colors to make the purest representation. It’s a minimal approach, I would say, and then a lot can happen in there.” Symbols and iconography, Doggett believes, are among the most direct forms of artistic communication. “And color isn’t just a frozen thing; it’s constantly changing depending on what it goes out with. It’s a different person, depending on its company.” “Even if you’re looking at an old master, I think the color is always the medium that is drawing you to it. Color response is emotional, very much like the sounds of music.” Visit The Yale University Art Gallery at : http://artgallery.yale.edu/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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