BOOK LAUNCH
27.03.2025
19–21h
Institut suédois, 11 rue Payenne, 75003 Paris
Pontus Hultén (1924 – 2006) was a pioneering art curator who fundamentally reshaped the relationship between art, museums and society. He played a pivotal role in founding cultural insti-tutions such as Moderna Museet, Centre Pompidou and MoCA. His curatorial practice was known for merging art with everyday life, making art accessible and dynamic, and taking it beyond traditional museum walls.
Less known is his engagement with graphic design. For him print was a space for experimentation, a dialogue abetween artists, designers, and writers. The book showcases exhibition catalogs, posters, invitations, programs, and visual identities, orchestrated by Hultén in collaboration with artists, curators, designers, editors, writers, and printers.
Keep Smiling! The Printed Universe of Pontus Hultén is a portrait through printed matter that not only documents his extensive exhibition output, but also embodies his anarchistic spirit. Hultén’s anarchism was playful, creative, sarcastic, free-spirited, inventive, and utopian. Many critical clues rejecting hierarchy and capitalism are embedded throughout the collection.
Perhaps echoing the anarchist ideas of Max Stirner, Hultén believed that each graphic object possesses its own right to character and individuality. Its design should reflect not only its content – the written and printed words – but also the creator behind it. It should serve as a mediator for the invisible. The ‘aura’ of each object emerged from a dynamic relationship between content and form, where the form often shifted to suit the subject. Materials were carefully chosen to evoke the desired aura or message, and novel printing techniques – frequently pushing the boundaries of what was technically possible at the time – were employed to bring these concepts to life.
The book is a result of a ten years research and collecting of the printed legacy of Pontus Hultén by graphic designer Stina Gromark. It showcases approximately 200 graphic objects, organised thematicly in chapters that intentionally doesn’t follow a chronological order. Included are writings by Pontus Hultén, where he reflects on exhibition catalogues from 1995, as well as a text by curator and art historian Ron Hunt. The book also features a converation with Ron Hunt and an interview with Lutz Jahre, librarian and writer of Das gedruckte museum von Pontus Hultén ( The Printed Museum by Pontus Hultén ).
The book is launching in conjunction with the exhibition Keep Smiling! L’univers imprimé par Pontus Hultén at Institut Suédois in Paris ( 27 March – 21 September 2025 ).
Format: 215 × 280 mm
Pages: 232
Cover: Softbound
Weight: 900 g
Printing: Full colour + sections of spot colour and cold foil. Cover screen printed one colour
ISBN: 978-2-9598849-1-7
Language: English
