Remnants: Recombined, Reconsidered
Sharon and Guy

On view by appointment: June 25 to August 6, 2022
Opening reception: Saturday, Jun 25, 2022, 1 to 4pm

Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago is pleased to present Remnants: Recombined, Reconsidered by design duo Sharon and Guy, a cross disciplinary exhibition exploring the boundaries of graphic design through photography, collage, and other media.

Bits of color, twisted form, faded words—stimulation is inspiration. The mode of operation is that of a street photographer, constantly noticing the unnoticed: the decrepit, the dilapidated, the dismissed. Our eyes scan, automatically and systematically, as they move through the city, waiting for delight, for curios to reveal themselves. Whimsy and happenstance are key. When found, these trash treasures are photographed or brought back, examined, and then set aside until one day partnered or grouped with other finds. Such is the process: hunting and gathering, thinking and making. The eyes, the brain, the heart—they don’t switch off. They invariably detect, desire, and direct the hands, continually compelled.

Bios:

Sharon and Guy question and investigate the process of design and the ways in which ideas are expressed and disseminated, ranging from the micro level of experimental typographic form and self-authorship to the macro level of creating publications and exhibitions. Their collaborative work is consistently recognized through awards, publications, exhibitions, and funding, along with being named in Design 50 2022 by Newcity. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include projects created within a larger team, and the Chicago Design Archive, for 150 Media Stream and Art on the Mart. Additionally, Sharon Oiga and Guy Villa Jr are professors and have written about their teaching in Designer Magazine, a UCDA publication.

Guy Villa Jr holds a BFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a major in Graphic Design and additional concentration in Photography. Experienced in design direction and publication design, he was named a Platinum Winner by Graphis for which he was interviewed and featured in a Graphis publication. He was also interviewed by Print magazine and his work was published in the annual. In his role as an Assistant Professor at Columbia College Chicago, Guy teaches graphic design and typography, and serves as Faculty Advisor to the Latino Alliance student group. Aside from teaching and design practice, he speaks at conferences regularly and gives presentations at regional, national and international venues. He is also Chair of the STA Design Inspiration Weekend, an annual forum for designers held by the Society of Typographic Arts. Recently, he was a juror for the international SoTA Typography Award as well as a proposal reviewer for the TypeCon Education Forum and AIGA Shift Virtual Summit. Additionally, he loves cats.

Sharon Oiga received an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and BFA degrees in Graphic Design and Photography from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She has partnered with multidisciplinary design firms, including Studio/lab Chicago, where she specialized in identity, brand strategy, publication design, and packaging with collaborators in the business, science, arts, health, and education sectors. In her role as Professor and the Chair of Graphic Design at UIC, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in design, typography, and thesis. A two-time recipient of major funding by Sappi Ideas That Matter, Sharon was also honored to receive the student-voted UIC Silver Circle Teaching Award. In the design community, she serves as Vice Chair of the Society of Typographic Aficionados and as a Director of the Chicago Design Archive. Additionally, she is allergic to cats.
Sharonandguy.com

Remnants: Recombined, Reconsidered is curated by Debra Kayes.

Curator bio:

Debra Kayes is an artist, designer, teacher and curator. She is an Associate Professor of Instruction at Columbia College Chicago. Debra has exhibited her art and design projects in venues such as the Illinois State Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Chicago Artists Coalition, The Hyde Park Art Center, New American Paintings and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Debra is a former Convergence Academies Research Fellow, a former Chicago Artists Coalition Hatch Projects resident and is a co-director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago. She has curated shows at the Glass Curtain Gallery, at The Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery and at Tiger Strikes Asteroid.

debrakayes.com

@debrakayes

Above image credit: Guy Villa Jr and Sharon Oiga, Narrative, 2022. Found materials on card stock, 8.5 x 11 inches (detail).

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Tags: Chicago, Lower West Side, Reconsidered, Remnants: Recombined, Sharon and Guy, Tiger Strikes Asteroid