Richard Hollis Designs for the Whitechapel

Richard Hollis was the graphic designer for London's Whitechapel Art Gallery in the years1969–73 and 1978–85. During his second tenure, under director Nicholas Serota, the gallery became prominent in the London art scene, featuring pioneering exhibitions by artists like Georg Baselitz, Anselm Kiefer, Phillip Guston, and Frida Kahlo. Hollis’s posters, catalogues, and leaflets captured the gallery's sense of discovery while exemplifying practical graphic design. Despite time and budget constraints, his work was urgent and impactful. This monograph on Hollis’s work by Christopher Wilson is a dynamic and insightful examination of this design era, reflecting the same passion and precision as Hollis’s designs. The book focuses on two main figures: Richard Hollis and the Whitechapel Art Gallery. It opens with chapters introducing each before detailing their collaboration. It includes reproductions and critical captions of Hollis's work for the gallery, covering key periods of his influence and the technical shifts in print production from hot-metal to desktop publishing. Includes an extended interview with Hollis, with those who worked at the Whitechapel, and with others involved in the events promoted during the period. By looking closely at one period of the designer’s work, Wilson finds a model for Hollis's overall practice. So the book functions partly as a history of one of the essential components of the London art world in that time, and as a survey of the work of "one of the finest British graphic designers of the past 50 years" (according to Rick Poyner). Includes a materials key, bibliography and index. Designed by Christopher Wilson Published by Hyphen Press, 2017 Softcover, 400 pages, color and b&w images, 6.76 × 9.5 inches ISBN: 978-0-90-725949-7