After completing an apprenticeship in lithography, Armin Hofmann began teaching his own typographic principles at the Basel School of Design in 1947. Hofmann espoused a dynamic balance of all the parts of a design and a modern aesthetic. He and his colleagues, who contributed to the development of Sw

Clean, Functional, Pristine, Severe, Swiss international style

"I salute Antonin Artaud," wrote Andre Breton, "for his passionate, heroic negation of everything that causes us to be dead while alive." The French actor, director, poet, and theorist was an enraged man of arguable genius; nevertheless, his writings are seminal influences on experimental theater. Ar

Absurd, Experimental, Literature of transgression, Severe, Surreal, Surrealist theater, Theater of cruelty, Theater of the absurd

"Have mercy on me," said Henry Kissinger as he was about to be photographed by Richard Avedon. Avedon was known for his ability to lay bare the souls of his subjects, often photographing them against totally white or otherwise stark backgrounds. At one time, Avedon was the highest paid fashion an

Documentary photography, Dramatic, Elegant, Eroticism , Fashion photography, Gritty, Intimate, Severe, Spare

Kara Walker uses the silhouette, that old parlor craft practiced by bonneted ladies, to create installations, prints, and paintings that stir intense controversy. The body of her work focuses on the antebellum South and the iconography and stereotypes surrounding African Americans, especially the ima

Figurative painting, Parody, Political, Severe, Violent