Think Big

Intermedio: In irregular intervals, Museum Folkwang will present posters from its collection, each from a special angle. Above all posters that owing to their position in the range of our collections tend rarely to put in an appearance in public exhibitions but nevertheless shed interesting light on certain aspects of developments in posters. Intermedio focuses on the visual experience. The first show features prints in a 1:1 format (2.36 x 3.36 m) for billboards, primarily from the 1980s. Some of these presentation ideas formed the basis for successful ad campaigns.

The show starts with the poster campaign developed for Pfanni potato cakes in 1975. The images of potato cakes were emblazoned on posters almost two metres high, and with headlines such as Das jüngste Gericht (The Last Judgement) or Keine Reiberei (No friction). They were a huge success – both for Pfanni and for the poster as a medium. Whereas in 1972 some 30 products and services were promoted on such billboards, in 1978 the number had already topped 150. The exhibition will show some 30 posters.