Dafi Kühne: Letterpress Posters Reinvented

WTF? poster (2021 version of a 2014 poster). Copyright Dafi Kühne.

Dafi Kühne, in conversation with Poster House curator Angelina Lippert, will present his work, share his approach to Swiss Typography, and give insights into his fascinating production process. Together they will discuss several contemporary questions such as: Do printed posters in a time of digital displays in urban spaces still make sense? And why should posters be produced at great expense using the antiquated letterpress printing process when digital printing devices can deliver high-quality reproductions at much lower cost?

Frederick P. Rose Auditorium
The Cooper Union
41 Cooper Square at the intersection of Third Avenue and 8th Street

May 3, 2023 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm
7 pm—welcoming remarks by the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York
7:10 pm—lecture by Dafi Kühne followed by a discussion between Kühne and Angelina Lippert
8:10 pm—showing by Kühne of actual letterpress-printed posters

Pow! poster (2019). Copyright Dafi Kühne.

Dafi Kühne is an award-winning Swiss designer and letterpress printer. In his studio BabyInkTwice, in the remote Swiss mountain village of Näfels, he works with a dizzying mix of analog and digital techniques to produce unique letterpress-printed posters that are visually mesmerizing and fascinating both for their design brilliance and their superb printing quality. He has one main rule in his studio: “No PDF ever leaves the studio as a final product.” He prints all of his posters with letterpress printing presses. Kühne believes that “letterpress printing can only live on if the design is at the heart of the process and makes the connection to the present”. His posters have won international awards and been included in exhibitions around the globe.

Angelina Lippert holds an MA in the art of the Russian Avant-Garde from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and a BA in theology and art history from Smith College. Prior to working at Poster House, Angelina served ten years as a poster specialist at a leading New York City auction house. She has produced dozens of auction catalogs and articles, as well as The Art Deco Poster, and has lectured at the School of Visual Arts and The Cooper Union. She is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Curators, AIGA, and is on the Board of Directors for The Ephemera Society of America. Her research interests include German Expressionism, Soviet film posters, and the history of food and wine in advertising.

This event is co-presented by the Herb Lubalin Study Center, Poster House, and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.

True Print poster (2016). Copyright Dafi Kühne.