AAXI: A Decade of Aesthetic Apparatus, One Year Late

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More About

• Michael Byzewski
• Dan Ibarra
• The Hold Steady
• Visual Arts
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Design studio Aesthetic Apparatus is arguably the Twin Cities' most lauded poster designer. The MCAD Gallery's latest exhibit takes a look at its impressive first decade—one year after the fact. The retrospective gathers the prodigious output of sole employees Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski, who founded AA 11 years ago as an after-hours project away from their "real" design jobs. "AAXI" highlights every limited-edition poster Aesthetic Apparatus has turned out since it formed, including show posters for the likes of Grizzly Bear and the Hold Steady, and art prints from the well-known Doom Drip series. It even expands beyond 2D works to include half-jokingly venerated studio artifacts: wire and clips from AA's first workspace, rubber stamp designs, an infamously ugly studio couch, and the sheet of legal paper where Ibarra and Byzewski first wrote their business plan ("Low art. High prices!"). The opening reception is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 28.
May 27-June 27, 2010