CoCA photos by Shirene Soleiman
Outside of its political implications, the Jan. 21 Women’s March offered an opportunity for artists to showcase their skills, in the form of spirited poster art, which is currently on display at Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) through Feb. 25.
Prior to the march, the Amplifier Foundation put out a call for march poster art from women artists around the country. The organization received 5,000 submissions, and narrowed it down to eight official Women’s March poster designs.
Amplifier made the artwork available for download, which offered another opportunity … this time for printers … as 40,000 posters of the selected artwork were readied for the march in Washington, D.C.
Much of the imagery, such as Shepard Fairey’s “We the People Are Greater Than Fear,” pictured at right, and Jessica Sabogal’s “Women Are Perfect,” pictured below, became instantly iconic, prompting Amplifier and CoCA to partner for the “Hear Our Voice” exhibit, which also showcases 60 more images from the 5,000 originally submitted.
To prepare for the opening reception of the exhibit, artist Stephen Rock partnered with Nichole DeMent at CoCA to print the exhibit images on LexJet Premium Matte Paper on an HP DesignJet Z3200, which all came together within about a week.
He chose the Premium Matte for its easily handling and exceptional color reproduction. The final exhibit is a colorful wall of ambition, sovereignty and a little bit of sass. The result, Rock says, was an energetic, positive message.
“All of us involved picked this up because it was positive reinforcement, not throwing our hands up in frustration,” he says. “And that goes along with Amplifier’s goal of bringing people together instead of polarizing them.”
Rock says about 700 people attended the opening reception, which he credits to the power of the movement as well as the star power of the likes of Fairey, Sabogal, Ernesto Yerena and the many talented artists who contributed to the Amplifier Project..
“It’s unbelievable how motivated people can make things happen,” Rock says.
