Since the start of the new year, we have been preparing for an exhibit titled: Curiosities: Rick Valicenti + the 21st Century Thirst . The exhibit opened on February 13. It is free and open to the public until April 3rd at the Schmidt Center Gallery on Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus.
The exhibition includes Thirst work from the past decade. In an effort to display the various types of work Thirst, we recreated our office environment. The Curiosities exhibition is a place where professional work mixes freely with personal explorations, where there is no boundary between “serious” play and “serious” work. Curiosities invites you to step into the fertile creative grounds that exist in the minds at Thirst. If you are in the south Florida area visiting a grandparent or parent or planning Spring break on the beach, be curious and visit the exhibition.
An opening reception celebrated the collaboration between FAU and Thirst — nearly 200 people were greeted upon entering by Thirst founder and owner, Rick Valicenti and designer Bud Rodecker. For the full Thirst experience, attendees were able to talk to senior designer John Pobojewski and Thirst intern Jason McAloon and get a glimpse into the office via live webfeed.
Freestanding walls display posters, and prints—professional, political, and playful—of Thirst’s varied and fascinating history.
Collaboration is at the core of what we do and it is reinforced immediately upon entering the exhibit.
Large scale vinyl graphics greet you with a collective gasp as you enter the gallery.
Only a small portion of Thirst’s history in posters is displayed on the wall. for more see posters.3st.com
Thirst’s Logotype was rendered in black sheep’s wool hand-spun by Lyndon Valicenti.
This reading area showcases the Playground, a 2006 call-for-entries where friends accepted the invitation to create an alphabet of 26 illuminated characters designed “not to start a sentence, but to begin a thought.” Displayed is the resulting 108 page catalog of all submissions.
From December 2007 to October 2008 Rick Valicenti created 570 sumi ink Notes to Self drawings. This reading area showcases two of those paintings, the implements used to create them and a 440 book documenting every one. View them all on rickvalicenti.com
Mirror Mirror is an interactive display, where users are invited to answer questions. Their answers result in a mask that shows you how the world sees you.
The concept for the inevitable Iraqi war memorial, made for print, gets a new life as a 3D print.
4 Comments
Love it! Looks amazing!
I don’t want it to end.
Thanks Nick. It’s an onslaught of design. I look forward to seeing it take on another life in a different gallery.
by far the best exhibition we have had the pleasure of hosting!