Ballyhoo! at the Smithsonian

The National Portrait Gallery's new exhibition “Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture” examines the themes present in poster art over the years.

The show's curator, Wendy Wick Reaves, says this of the exhibit on the National Portrait Gallery's blog:

"Sometimes a pictorial poster is a decorative masterpiece—something I can’t walk by without a jolt of aesthetic pleasure. Another might strike me as extremely clever advertising: you can feel the persuasive tug of words and image working in tandem. Occasionally, a poster is more like a punch in the stomach that takes you aback and makes you think. Posters can also be collectible icons for your wall, promoting your favorite cause or rock band. Indeed, there is no one tidy category for these pieces. But collectively, these 'pictures of persuasion,' as we might call them, offer a wealth of art, history, design, and popular culture for us to understand."