Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design 1875–1975

Duration

July 11, 2025 -
July 26, 2025

Opening Times

-

Opening Party

July 11, 2025 - 06:00PM

"Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design 1875–1975" is an exhibition and living archive tracing a century of Japanese graphic design, unpacking themes of modernity, imperialism, and identity through the lens of designer and historian Ian Lynam’s landmark publication.

Fracture: Japanese Graphic Design 1875–1975 is an exhibition dedicated to the history of Japanese graphic design. The exhibition functions as an archive-on-display of much of the objects and artifacts published in the recent eponymous hybrid coffee table book/text book of the same name by designer, educator, critic, and historian Ian Lynam. Within, Lynam explores graphic design in Japan from its foundations in the graphic arts to the immediate pre-digital design era.

The exhibition also features an exploded version of the book on-site, as well as designed objects from Japan since it re-opened to the West, exploring modernity, imperialism, gender, commercialism, sexuality, and aesthetics.

Ian Lynam

Ian Lynam works at the intersection of graphic design, design education and design research. He is faculty at Temple University Japan. He operates the Tokyo design studio Ian Lynam Design, working across identity, typography, and interior design. Ian writes for IDEA (JP), Modes of Criticism (PT), Slanted (DE) and has published a number of books about design.