AIGA Boston is honoring Chaz Maviyane-Davies as 2018 AIGA Fellow. In partnership with The Fort Point Arts Community Gallery, Chaz’s work is exhibited from September 12th to 29th. Chaz will be giving a lecture on Thursday, September 27th.
For the exhibition, please note that gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and by appointment.
The curated show features posters from Chaz’s lifelong career. The thought-provoking body of work uses original imagery to engage us in the conversations of our time and urge us to question things we might take for granted. Chaz’s work touches on topics that span politics and the environment as well as humanity and consumerism.
Ticket Fees
This event is FREE and open to the public. Please RSVP.
Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Designer, filmmaker, educator and activist, Chaz Maviyane-Davies has been described by the UK’s Design magazine as “the guerrilla of graphic design”. Debbie Millman of Design Matters called him “one of the most powerful voices in the world of graphic design”. For over four decades this controversial, award-winning artist has marshaled the power of design to enable effective communication for social change, taking on issues of consumerism, health, nutrition, social responsibility, the environment, and human rights.
He achieved an MA in Graphic Design with distinction from the Central School of Art and Design in London, and an Advanced Diploma in Postgraduate Film-making from the Central St. Martins School of Art and Design London. He spent a year in Japan studying three-dimensional design and ten months in Malaysia working on various world-reaching design projects for the International Organization of Consumers Unions and JUST World Trust. His design work experience in London includes time with Fulcrum (Design Consultants), Newell and Sorrell Design Ltd., as well as a stint in the Department of Graphic Design of BBC Television.
From 1983 until 2000, he ran a highly acclaimed design studio in Harare, Zimbabwe; The Maviyane-Project. The social and humane nature of his work was often confrontational and challenging to the authorities, so it was not surprising that, in 2001, with the adverse political climate at the time, he felt compelled to leave his homeland for a post at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. He taught there until 2016, and is now Professor Emeritus of Design.
His work has appeared in scores of international magazines and newspapers and he has been acknowledged in many publications, including Who’s Who in Graphic Design, Rewriting the Rules of Graphic Design, History of Graphic Design, Anatomy of Design, Graphic Agitation 1 & 2, Graphic Design Timeline—A Century of Design Milestones, World Graphic Design, Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World’s Greatest Graphic Designers, Design of Dissent, and Area: Showcasing 100 of the World’s Most Innovative Emerging Graphic Designers. He was also included in the inaugural list I.D. Forty, I.D. magazine’s annual honors list profiling leading-edge designers from around the world — New York 1998.
In 2009, the University of Massachusetts Lowell conferred on him an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He is also the recipient of the inaugural Anthon Beeke International design award in Amsterdam and recognized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston with an award for outstanding innovator in his commitment to the struggle to transform society and create a just future. Simmons College, Boston recognized the essence of his work with an award for courage and integrity in using art to stimulate activism for social change. He also delivered the prestigious Dwiggins lecture in November 2003, sponsored by the Society of Printers and the Boston Public Library.
His work is included in permanent collections in various galleries around the world and has been seen at over 200 extensive individual and group exhibitions. He has been represented in most of the largest international graphic, invitational and poster exhibitions from 1980 to the present time and he has been a judge on many international exhibitions and competitions.
In 1991 he wrote, directed and produced a short film. After the Wax — a personal view of nationality and identity. This work has been screened at several film festivals and television channels around the world where it has won accolades and several awards. His book, A World of Questions: 120 Posters on the Human Condition was a winner at the Boston Book Show 2017, and has gained attention internationally from luminaries in the design world and beyond. In 2017 he published 30: A Folio of Posters Based on the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights — a folio of award-winning posters, conceptualized from an African perspective. He is presently writing a book about his work entitled Creative Defiance.
