Exhibition: RedPlanet: a reflection

POSTER EXHIBITION DOTTED AROUND THE RICHMOND TOWN HALL. 

Where: Richmond Town Hall: Level 1, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond, Vic. 

When: 9-5, Monday to Friday, 8 October to 5 December 2014.

There are about 20+ posters on display. The posters are powerful, of their time, terrific to see gathered together. Unfortunately the display area is not so good – the posters are displayed in corridors and meeting rooms. If the meting room is in use, you can’t see some posters.

RedPlanet posters from Yarra’s collection are now showing at the Richmond Town Hall along with posters on loan that were produced during workshops and residencies at the iconic press.

RedPlanet was a poster press based in Fitzroy from 1992 – 1998. Short lived but with a huge impact and lasting legacy, RedPlanet was formed by the merging of two former presses based in Melbourne, Redletter and Another Planet. RedPlanet was run as a collective and involved key artists such as Carol Porter whose posters resulted in unexpected, thought provoking and memorable encounters across the walls, spaces and billboards of Yarra and the wider city. Often the messages were socially and politically motivated and offered an alternative to the main stream.

RedPlanet provided low cost design and printing services for community organisations and activists throughout its history. It also ran a significant artist in residence program producing ‘in house’ posters that went on to receive critical recognition at international graphic and design festivals.