Signage is Art

Despite what some draconian city planners might think, signage is a form of commercial speech that demands First Amendment protection. Without the guarantee of free speech, civic officials could capriciously deny businesses equal opportunity to self-promote simply because of arbitrary aesthetic preferences, personal grudges or the wherewithal (or lack thereof) of one entrepreneur versus another.

In a similar vein, some among the haute couture intelligentsia might scornfully view signage as less than an art form, and signmakers as little more than carpenters or electricians with a rudimentary knowledge of color management. Again, a heinously wrong assumption. As a painter would express a mood on a canvas, a signshop expresses the identity of a store, civic institution or brand through an effective application of color, lighting and structure.

Thankfully, not all artists take such a dim view of signs’ artistic value. The Des Moines (IA) Art Center recently hosted “Sign Language,” a multimedia exhibition that features contemporary artwork inspired by billboards, LED panels, neon signs and other ubiquitous sign types. Combining pieces from the center’s permanent collection with those loaned from other museums and galleries, the exhibit displays sign-inspired artwork from such art-world luminaries as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Margaret Kilgallen.

Patricia Hickson, the exhibition’s curator, said, “Since the advent of ‘pop art’ in the 1960s, artists have engaged significantly with popular culture, especially advertising…the barrage of graphic design, billboards and signage in the urban landscape has consistently influenced the work of many notable, contemporary artists over the past 50 years.”

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