Art exhibit passes sugar in a whole different way

It isn’t very often when one finds an art exhibit that replaces watercolors and sculptures with iMac computer monitors, Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bags and personal quotes made from powdered sugar. This rare occasion has come to Cal Poly in the form of an artist named Marian Bantjes.

As an artist, Marian Bantjes is in a league of her own. The renowned Canadian artist recently opened her art exhibition called “Marian Bantjes Shows Off” in Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery.

Bantjes encompasses several different forms of art, never settling on one specific medium. Her art forms include: graphic design, illustration, typography, paint, photography, writing, wood burning and everything in between; this mixture of genres is part of what has brought attention to her work.

“She is an experimental typographer,” said Garrett Deiter, an art and design senior who has visited Bantjes’ exhibit. “She produces a lot of work that’s in between graphic design and fine art. (She has) a lot of hand-executed designs that are fluent and very appealing to look at.”

Many of Bantjes’s clients embrace the edgy, yet simplistic modernism found in her works, which include computer magazines to department stores to wineries. Some of her client names include: Pentagram, Houghton-Mifflin, ESPN Magazine, Details, InStyle, The New York Times Magazine, Print and Wired.

Resting against a wall in the exhibit is an iMac monitor displaying one of Bantjes’ artworks. This project, called “B(unch),” is a flipbook-paced photographic slideshow of a ball of fur. It was created last year as a logo for the UK firm Bunch. These stills quickly show the hot pink and orange ball of fur take on various shapes, essentially bringing the fur to life.

“I’m just really impressed with all of the detail she puts into everything,” said business and social sciences junior Meghan Hazlett. “I am naturally a very detail-oriented person, so I love this. I feel like everything is so precise and yet so well done at the same time.”

Since she enjoys more artistic mediums than the standard pen and paper of many artists, Bantjes even uses food to create her art; she has designed art pieces made out of powdered sugar for her New York-based client, graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister. Sagmeister, the owner of the design firm Stagmeister Inc. used Bantjes’ sugar art pieces in his book Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far, as well as in Copy Magazine.

“It’s interesting because of what (the quote in the sugar) says,” said Deiter. It’s about experimenting personally with her design before she uses it professionally. These are just impressive because of the dedication and the time (put into them).”

As a part of her work ethic, Bantjes tries to make every piece of work individual. For instance, she recently drew 25 intricately-designed snowflake illustrations for Saks Fifth Avenue’s 2008 Christmas season. None of her 25 snowflakes are alike; all feature a unique design.

“I drew some like feathers, like antlers, with little people, one made all of houses, some like sparkly lights, a hairy one, a few like ribbons, some were complex and three dimensional, others simple and flat,” Bantjes wrote on her Web site.

“It is really intriguing. Each one has its own theme. There’s a little bit of mystery in each one of them,” graphic communications senior Maddie Dover said.

Saks, one of Bantjes’ regular customers, used her illustrations on all of their campaign materials, including posters, clothing and shopping bags, which are all on display in the exhibit.

Moving along in the exhibit you find a single poster designed for Australia’s R-Wines that houses 2,130 grape drawings spelling out the names of various vineyards. But as you lean in, your optic nerve suddenly tells your brain that all these grapes were individually drawn.

“You have to spend a while in here because sometimes you don’t see the incredible detail!” University Art Gallery coordinator Jeff Van Kleek said.

Bantjes’ hand drawn art and attention to detail have created her own way of communication and have won the respects of many students.

“(Her art) is more interesting and more visually stimulating. Those are the ones that stand out to me the most,” Deiter said.

Students who have already visited Bantjes’ exhibit understand the importance of having such a unique art display on campus.

“It helps to increase education about art and it’s helpful for students to see what’s out there in the industry and what people are currently doing. (It helps to see what) the current trends are,” graphic communications senior Natalie Kuhn said.

Other students appreciate the new visual outlook and artistic perspective that Bantjes has showcased in her art and shared with the Cal Poly community.

“(It’s interesting) learning about how older style calligraphy and older art forms can be modernized using old pens, everyday art forms and media to make it look modern and fresh,” Dover said.

“I think all her designs are really inspiring for graphic designers to apply their studio art skills, like hands-on design, rather than using vectorized-graphics and plain typography that you find on the (Adobe)Creative Suites,” Deiter said.

“Marian Bantjes Shows Off” will be on display Jan. 9 through Feb. 20 in the Cal Poly University Art Gallery in the Dexter building. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. when school is in session. Both the lecture and gallery are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the University Art Gallery Web site at artgallery.calpoly.edu.