Argument by design

Fisun Guner|Metro5 April 2012
The Weekender

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Communicate: Independent British Graphic Design Since The Sixties

Contemporary art is dead and, if we're to believe those invidious style gurus, design now reigns supreme.

As a visual metaphor for media overload, this extensive exhibition on the recent history of British graphic design can't be bettered - which is a little ironic since, as a design experience, it kind of leaves you feeling battered.

Crammed full of text, captions, still and moving images, the Barbican's walls are covered end to end with ephemera.

It's certainly informative but perhaps the curators should have paid more heed to art's dictum of 'less is more'.

Altogether there are seven sections, including one on music. Since youth culture has had the most impact on recent developments in graphic design, this section is perhaps justifiably the most busy: iconic record covers range from Peter Blake's Sgt Pepper to Jamie Reid's fabulous God Save The Queen singles cover for the Sex Pistols.

But considering the 1960s and the two decades thereafter were the most politically engaged in Britain's post-war history, the section on Politics and Society is oddly sparse.

We have Robin Fior's dry 1960s nuclear disarmament posters, yet where is Peter Kennard's witty and hard-hitting image of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as Gone With the Wind's Rhett and Scarlett? - certainly among the most memorable poster campaigns of the 1980s. Fisun G¸ner

Until Jan 23, Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, Silk Street EC2, daily 11am to 8pm (Tue and Thu to 6pm), £8, £6 concs. Tel: 0845 120 7550. Tube: Moorgate/Barbican

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