TADANORI YOKOO (1936- ) WORD IMAGE. 1968. 49x12 inches, 124 1/2x30 1/2 cm. Poster Originals Ltd., [New York.] Condition A: small foxing spots in image. Silkscreen. Paper. For the seminal exhibition of 20th century posters from the Museum of Modern Art's own collection, curator Mildred Constantine assembled what Rita Reif referred to as "a landmark presentation that helped define the medium for scholars, graphics specialists and collectors" (New York Times, June 26, 1988). The exhibition focused as much on contemporary images as historical ones, and the curators put extra emphasis on the contemporary state of graphic design by choosing Tadanori Yokoo to design the exhibition poster. For this golden opportunity, he created a very synthetic image with no typography within the image to distract the viewer. Using mouths and one large eye, he perfectly evokes the concept of "word" and "image." He employs the rays of the rising sun, one of his favorite and recurring motifs, but here, makes the colors red, white and blue for America rather than the Japanese red and white. Yokoo 546, Yokoo / 100 Posters 33.
![TADANORI YOKOO (1936- ). WORD IMAGE. 1968. 49x12 inches, 124x30 cm. Poster Originals Ltd., [New York.]](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//130\753130.jpg)
