Lenermman Gallery starts the Fall semester by hosting the exhibition of the Poster Stellars’s winners! Poster Stellars is an annual intercontinental poster competition run by NJCU graphic design professor, Wesam Haddad, since 2021. The star and space theme of the competition personifies the idea of limitless imagination in design.
Poster Stellars prides itself on its diversity, and its motto, “Reach for the stars,” showcases how artists from all walks of life strive to come together and create a colorful space of artistry regardless of adversity. As Haddad said in the opening of the exhibit, “Consider this exhibition (as) a message of love and unity of everyone despite what you are seeing all around the world.”
Poster Stellars challenges artists (students and professionals) from all around the world to create thought-provoking and eye-catching posters that test the boundaries of graphic design and animation, within different categories like political, ecological, typographic, and advertisement. Every year, the exhibit travels to different countries and states to showcase its winners in a gallery exhibition. This year, it sets up camp on the 3rd floor of Hepburn Hall!
The competition received over 700 entries from 40 countries, and 82 out of 106 winners are showcased in the Lenermman Gallery. One winner being NJCU alum Rachel Birtwistle for her piece “Shadow.” Birtwistle received her Bronze Stellar Award in the Typographic – Student category on September 17th during the exhibit’s award ceremony.
If you’re a fan of design, activist art, typography, or posters, I highly recommend visiting this exhibit. While the number of pieces shown is limited due to the space of the gallery, it showcases the skillset and creativity of all the winners and applicants! Everyone’s artworks were on the same level of polish. What I was most excited about was the animated posters. Seeing all the intricacies of the posters made me excited, but made my head hurt from imagining how many nights these artists had to endure on After Effects (or any other software) to accomplish such finesse. I envy, fear, and admire them.
Poster Stellars is a beautiful exhibit and competition that uplifts emerging and established artists globally. Walking through the exhibit feels like going around the world. I urge everyone to take the climb up Hepburn Hall from September 17th to November 25 (extended!) to see this exhibit, as it’s a great reminder that art will always bring people together, even if the world is burning. I also urge any NJCU students to sign up for next year’s competition. It’s a great opportunity to test yourself and push your talents to the next level!
For more information about the Poster Stellar and the winners, visit https://www.posterstellars.com/
And for more NJCU galleries, visit https://www.njcu.edu/community/center-arts/galleries
