Typography Art - 10 Artists Breaking Boundaries

Art is more than lines and colors, it can also be expressed in words! Typography art is one of the visual languages that artists have managed to incorporate into their practices that blurs the lines between art and graphic design. Though words are often straightforward in expression, they can also be subtle and abstract which leaves viewers pondering and could really spruce up interesting points for conversation.

In this curation, we have featured artists that have translated principles of graphic design into art pieces that breaks the boundaries of conventional font and letter usage!

Hilmy Pratama Soepadmo

Based in Bandung, is Hilmy Pratama Soepadmo whose practices lie in paintings, prints and Perspex to work towards deconstructing consumerist culture by identifying visual stimulants that drive people’s behavior to act on senseless consumption.

"The relief object on my work created by plastic mold in the shape of survival kit contents: compass, pen, knife, saw wire, etc. as a thing that can be considered to be associated with my self-development process and survival purpose which can be understood as a symbol visualization." - Hilmy Pratama Soepadmo

Using distinct typography as an expression, Soepadmo packages his works to raise awareness of individual buying values and habits.

Michele Ansermet Papadopoulos

Playing on words to distill essential messages, Michèle Ansermet Papadopoulos invites her audiences to an ongoing theatrical play with the use of drawing, colour, text, movement, and dance in her works.

"I don't think we become artists, we are born artists, we live as artists and we die as artists" - Michèle Ansermet Papadopoulos

Being enthralled with drawing and color from a very early age, Papadopoulos's practices reflect her spirited and generous nature with playful illustrations, vibrant colors and bold lines.

Damon Tong Wai Kit

Infusing elements of his culture, Damon Tong Wai Kit deliberately uses common phrases from his daily life in Hong Kong to demonstrate his focus on the repetition and the mundane through the medium of custom-made stickers. Often mass-produced, "Made in China" stickers are known to mark manufactured goods that come out of China's booming factories and have become a source of inspiration for Tong's practices.

His visually punchy works can be seen as a stream signifying mainstream culture that brings familiarity, however, it roots itself in juxtaposition and tension where it speaks cryptically upon the complexity of the issues faced by the people of Hong Kong.

Shin-young Park

Born in Seoul and now based in Singapore, Shin-young Park specializes in printmaking that expresses her focus on global social issues. By integrating typography and urban-centric collage prints, Park delves into representing the diversity of culture, values and ethnicity. Opening up windows of insight into today's society and the issues that it currently withholds. 

Hu Qiren

Through exploring the myriad forms of image-making, Hu Qiren incorporates a wide range of media, including photography, video, installation and performance into her practices as a visual artist. In her series of prints, Qiren prompts the dialogue of self/artistic preservation in the age of productivity and pragmatism where she questions what it takes to contain and manufacture a visual image at its freshest, and to whom and when we are proclaiming our intrinsic use-by/best before dates to.

Lian Ng

Based in San Francisco, Lian Ng's work is heavily influenced by his background in Mathematics and Computer Science and utilizes his knowledge to incorporate mathematical algorithms, as well as typography and architectural references to create art with an underlying formal structure whilst maintaining a sense of organic fluidity. 

"I’m fascinated by the perimeters that shapes are created from as well as pattern generation that results in elements being expanded or manipulated, creating complex systems." - Lian Ng

Joel Chasseriau

Being an artist, graphic designer, and self-taught engraver, Joel Chasseriau has found himself being attracted to the world of image. Chasseriau's inspiration lies in the movement of Bauhaus and infusing into his contemporary art practices with figurative lines, shapes and texts coupled with bold color blocking, ultimately creating captivating compositions in his works.
 

Emma Anna

With her desire to capture stories and memories in tangible form, Emma Anna's collages are heavily influenced by pop culture and personal narrative in combination with her passion for esotericism, nature and its cycles. Altogether creating a hybrid of collage and the storytelling traditions of magic realism evokes a sense of whimsical and nostalgia.

Ben Loiz

Simplistic yet complex by nature, Ben Loiz integrates geometry into his typographic practices as he shares sentiments and progressions of his life through integrating the textures of walls and spray paint of his youth. The progression of life is being treated like a puzzle that takes time to decipher and holding onto uplifting affirmations aids one in getting through with faith, as Loiz believes and infuses into his works.

Mariano Molina

Having graduated as a Painting and Drawing Professor at the School of Fine Arts Prilidiano Pueyrredon in Buenos Aires, Mariano Molina delves into the concept of masses and crowds through his vast expression in figures and pictorial poetry.

Molina's initial focus starts from political conflicts and transited to a broader focus on volume in plastic materiality and translated them into full-scale murals and urban interventions, altogether making a significant statement.

If you've enjoyed our curation of artists and their typography works, take a look at our extensive collection of typography art here!