By Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
A designer and an artist, Luba Lukova creates images that she hopes will catalyze action and change the world.
As an artist and designer, Luba Lukova creates images that she hopes will catalyze action and change the world. Her thought-provoking posters address essential themes of humanity and injustice worldwide, helping viewers develop an empathetic understanding of social and cultural issues through indelible metaphors and an economy of line, color, and text.
Luba Lukova: Designing Justice, I (2017) by Museum of Design AtlantaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
In 2017, Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) presented the exhibition Luba Lukova: Designing Justice, which featured the artist’s social commentary and theatre-inspired prints and posters. Loved by audiences and critics alike, the exhibition embarked on a tour to galleries and museums throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Luba Lukova: Designing Justice, II (2017) by Museum of Design AtlantaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Internationally renowned, New York-based Lukova is regarded as one of the most original image-makers working today. Her powerful and thought-provoking œuvre pinpoints essential themes of humanity, like the importance of peace, and it also addresses the various problems created by inequity.
Expressing commentary on complex social issues has been Luba Lukova’s career-long focus because of her belief that art is central to human existence and that morality and creativity are intertwined.
Exhibition Photo II (Luba Lukova) by 2017Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Why are the images in Lukova’s Designing Justice are so visually appealing?
Saturated colors draw you in; hard edges clarify the dynamic shapes; and distilled compositions keep the eye locked into the picture plane. And, within her direct, elegantly streamlined images, Lukova has embedded the most essential element of all: a powerful message intended to spark thinking.
Luba Lukova: Designing Justice, IV (2017) by Museum of Design AtlantaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
As you unpack the visual elements that are the foundation of each image, the profundity of the artist’s message seeps ever more deeply into your unconscious mind. By the time you look away, you have been reminded on a fundamental level that social issues all across the globe demand to be addressed – and changed – through the commitment of well-intentioned individuals. Lukova’s images help provide the inspiration for all of us to be a force for good in the world.
Peace
Peace was first published as Lukova’s visual commentary on the Op-Ed page of the The New York Times, but it was later reinterpreted in poster-form.
It is one of Lukova’s most well-known images, and it asks an important question: do we protect peace by creating endless wars?
Income Gap
One of the most popular images from Luba Lukova’s Social Justice portfolio, Income Gap addresses the growing inequality in our world. The poster went viral on the Internet and has been exhibited and republished around the globe.
Ecology
In her signature style of using visual metaphors, Luba Lukova addresses the interdependence of man and nature: When we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves.
(Ecology, too, is part of Lukova’s Social Justice portfolio.)
Censorship
This image was first published on the cover of The New York Times’ Sunday Arts and Leisure section as poignant commentary accompanying an article that detailed the Taliban regime’s censorship of music.
It serves as a statement on the importance of our freedom of expression.
Dialogue
Lukova created Dialogue in response to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, expressing her belief that war is not the answer to resolving complex political issues.
The simple two-color image demonstrates her striking use of positive/negative space and the value of minimal text.
Brainwashing
Another print from Lukova’s Social Justice portfolio, Brainwashing questions the role of media in today’s society. Does it harm our perceptions of the world beyond repair?
Delta Blues
The artist created Delta Blues for an exhibition of her work in Cleveland, Mississippi. In Lukova’s image, the intense emotion of blues music is intertwined with the painful history of slavery in the American South.
Here We Are
The imaginative metaphor of Here We Are speaks to the concept of breaking cycles of incarceration and poverty.
Lukova originally created this image for The Living Theatre’s production of the play Here We Are. (She has collaborated with the legendary theatre company since 1993.)
Corporate Corruption
When she was working on her Social Justice series in 2008, Lukova created Corporate Corruption as a visual reaction to the Enron scandal.
Even over a decade since its publication, the image has managed to maintain its relevancy.
I Have a Dream
Lukova created I Have a Dream in commemoration of the Civil Rights Movement.
High contrast combined with red's heat echo the tension and aggression prevalent during the CRM but are met with nonviolence, represented here by the calmly seated figure of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chernobyl, Fukushima . . .
The artist created Chernobyl, Fukushima... to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which coincided with the atomic plant catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. Lukova reinterprets the ancient sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons who, according to the Greek myth, were attacked by venomous snakes. She replaces the serpents with the atomic model, speaking about the vulnerability of contemporary man. Humankind, possessing the power wrenched from the heart of the atom, can now destroy itself and the planet.
Immigrant
With this print from her Social Justice portfolio, Lukova depicts the immigrant using an emotionally-moving visual metaphor of an anthropomorphic grafted tree.
She suggests that, even if one has changed their roots, they will continue to grow and flourish in a new place.
LIC Blues (Gentrification I)
With this image, Lukova reacts to the gentrification of Long Island City, New York, where her studio is located. Though home to one of NYC's most vibrant arts communities, the buildings that house artists' studios are being demolished and replaced with expensive real estate.
LIC Blues (Gentrification II)
The artist again addresses the ongoing gentrification of Long Island City, New York, hoping that music and art can survive amid the monotonous condominium towers being constructed in the area.
Love
Lukova created Love for the German paper manufacturer Scheufelen.
The artist’s unique visual poetry transforms letters into human forms, depicting several different kinds of love.
The Gender Inequality Triptych
The Gender Inequality Triptych was created after a Facebook follower from Iran asked Lukova to design a poster on women’s rights in the Muslim world. She decided to address the issue with series of images showing everyday situations that are impossibly difficult for women compared to men. Lukova first published the images on the social media and they immediately provoked strong reactions, both positive and negative. Since then the triptych has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and internationally, including Turkey, Malaysia, France, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
I Scream (Gender Inequality Triptych) (2012) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Fun in the Sun (Gender Inequality Triptych) (2012) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Say Cheese (Gender Inequality Triptych) (2012) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Sudan
Lukova's idea for Sudan came while watching a TV documentary on the impoverished country.
At the end of the film, there was a commercial promoting low calorie food.
“The contrast was so striking that while watching the ad I had the idea for the image in my head”, Lukova says.
War and Peace
The idea for this piece came from reportage on an Iraq war veteran learning to walk with a temporary prosthetic leg that Lukova thought similar in appearance to a bird cage.
Here, the artist added a dove as a powerful metaphor for the toll of war and the fragility of peace.
Pride Poster
Lukova was commissioned by 1199SEIU to create a poster for their march at the 2016 Pride Parade in New York City, which took place just two weeks after the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
The Pride Parade had a record attendance of 2.5 million people.
Upward Mobility (2016) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Upward Mobility
Lukova’s Upward Mobility was originally published in The New York Times in association with an article written by Hillary Clinton on her presidential campaign plan for helping America’s poor.
Social Security
With this poster from her Social Justice series, the artist addresses public concerns surrounding the future of our Social Security system.
Lukova created They Take Our Jobs for an international exhibition in Athens, Greece organized by the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute. The artist addresses the myth that immigrants steal jobs from native-born workers and contribute to poverty.
Education Vs. War
Lukova created Education Vs. War for The War Resisters League’s campaign against the militarization of youth. Founded in New York by men and women who had opposed World War I, WRL is the nation’s oldest secular pacifist organization.
Human
Human was created as a part of Lukova’s installation with prints called Humanizing Design at Massachusetts College of Arts in Boston, expressing the artist’s dedication to examining the human condition and sending a hopeful message with her art.
War Crime
This is one of four prints done by Lukova for the Crime issue of Nozone, a political graphic design and comics zine. Created during the 1990s Balkan conflicts, Lukova’s bold linocut print addresses the absurdity of war as a meaningless act that pits brother against brother.
Water (2001) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Lukova created Water, shown above, for an international exhibition at the 2001 UN Climate Change Conference that took place in Marrakesh, Morocco. Inspired by the Renaissance depiction of Madonna and Child, Lukova’s stunning portrait of love and loss addresses the man-nature relation and desertification of land.
The mother’s armless body is cracked and gray as parched earth, but we can still see the pride and concern she feels for the crying baby that lies on her chest. Instead of statistics regarding rates of mortality and instead of discussions about drought and its impact on the African continent, Lukova’s in-our-face, one-on-one work of art asks us to really feel what it’s like to love a child then watch it die.
Health Coverage
In one of the most memorable images from her Social Justice series, Lukova depicts a skeleton of an umbrella with a missing canopy and a handle as caduceus, addressing the somber fact that millions of Americans still live without adequate health coverage.
Health Coverage was displayed by Obama’s campaign for a prestigious art exhibition at his first inauguration in Washington, D.C.
Privacy
Privacy was originally created as a visual commentary on the USA Patriot Act, which made it easier for the government to spy on ordinary Americans. Lukova presents a metaphorical twist on Auguste Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker; here, his thoughts are caught in a mousetrap.
Peace & Planet
Lukova created Peace & Planet for an anti-nuclear rally in New York City, organized by the American Friends Service Committee, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient institution. The event gathered more than 10,000 attendees from around the globe in April of 2015.
Say It Loud (2003) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Lukova originally created Say It Loud!, pictured above, as a logo for an advertising agency in Orlando, Florida.
The iconic image quickly received recognition from the art and design community, and after numerous reprints in publications, took on a life of its own as a powerful poster addressing freedom of expression.
Designing Justice (2017) by Luba LukovaMuseum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
Above is the poster for Lukova’s exhibition at Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA).
For Lukova, the creative process always begins with a pencil in hand, and her insistence on hand drawing permeates all her work with wonderful liveliness and organic unity. In the artist’s hardworking hands, the pencil becomes a fire stick, effectively energizing and inspiring viewers around the world.
Exhibition presented with the support of Creative Approach, Neenah, Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund, Interface, Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts and Culture, and Kaynemaile.
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