Guided Tour: Jan Solpera - Rounded

The exhibition of Jan Solpera's typographic work is led by the artist himself, together with curators Zuzana Burgrová and Robert V. Novák.

The exhibition follows a series of showcases dedicated to graphic design, which the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň is building as a long-term project - partly to fill the gap left by the closure of the international Brno Biennial. Plzeň is a natural home for such an initiative, not least because of the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the West Bohemian University.

The curators, graphic designers Zuzana Burgrová and Robert V. Novák, held the same role for the exhibition "Rostislav Vaněk Extended". They emphasize that they are not professional curators - and they see this as an advantage: they can appreciate details of work close to them with an unconventional eye, and treat the work distinctly yet with utmost respect.

The exhibition aims to highlight aspects of Solpera's work that the artist himself tends to downplay, yet are essential and style-defining. Solpera's domain is a specific calligraphic approach to title text compositions - even in designs that laypeople would not consider calligraphy. His work reveals a deep knowledge of the history of typefaces, which he engages with or responds to in his own distinctive way. The exhibition will also include film animations that illustrate this principle to visitors.

The exhibition incorporates excerpts from Jan Solpera's own text "Typo života běh ( ; ! : ? & ~ ! ! ! ? ! : [ … ] + ) = Solpera", in which he describes personal memories and experiences from his field and from decades of teaching. His scholarly work "Classification of Latin Typographic Typefaces" from 1977 is also featured. The physical exhibits - posters, books and other printed materials - are arranged not chronologically, but according to morphology and semantic relationships.