Provocative by design

The MSU Museum’s new exhibit, “Movies and Messages: The Movie Posters of Art Sims,” takes a look at one such unsung artist: Art Sims. His team of creatives, along with his own considerable talents, have created some of the most memorable marketing material for motion pictures over the last three decades. In art, the road from conception to completion is never an easy task, and this exhibit illustrates that with graphic design it is no different.

“Marketing is a long process,” said Sims. “And it takes a whole team of illustrators, designers and finishers to get it done.”

Sims, an MSU alumnus, is a designer and owner of Los Angeles-based design studio 11:24 Design. While his studio’s focus is on promoting African-American art and culture, 11:24 Design also does design work for the motion picture industry, working with such major studios as 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilms.

While Sims has much in his portfolio to be proud of, a notable contribution is his work with filmmaker Spike Lee. Sims has worked on every Spike Lee film since 1988’s “School Daze.” He states that his working relationship with Lee wasn’t anything as serendipitous as happening upon some Hollywoodstyle big break, but was completely by design — no pun intended.

“I knew if I wanted to grow my business in marketing, I needed to work with stars,” Sims said. “So I sought out the work and my name started to spread after working with them.”

“Movies and Messages” puts its focus primarily on Sims’ work with Spike Lee, showcasing eight of his most memorable pieces produced for some of Lee’s most iconic films. The exhibit is supplemented with materials that help viewers better understand the process. Guests can view photographs and other materials, illustrating all the components that contribute to a finalized piece. Some of the posters are also accompanied by binders containing several conceptual ideas for film posters, giving a glimpse into alternate takes on posters as iconic as the films they accompany.

Included in the exhibit is one of Sims’ most recognizable designs, his poster for the 1992 film “Malcolm X.” At first glance, the design is as simple as they come: a massive silver X over a black background. Sims reminisces that coming to that design solution was anything but. His team was stumped as to how to sell a film for the historic civil rights activist, mulling over if there was any one period of his life that was right for selling the film. Eventually, the film’s star, Denzel Washington, suggested that since the subject matter was so complicated, simplicity was the key.

“Denzel suggested we just use the X,” said Sims. “I thought the silver X/ black background was perfect. I didn’t know what else we needed to say!” While most artists are hard pressed to choose a favorite from their work, Sims confesses it might be the poster he did for the 2000 Spike Lee film “Bamboozled.” The film is about a frustrated African-American TV writer who decides to use offensive representations of blacks from early 20th century culture to sell a TV show.

While such a premise could create a quagmire in terms of art to sell it, Sims carried on unflinchingly. Lee requested that Sims make the art appear as a mix between something Barnum & Bailey Circus would produce, while also utilizing pickaninny imagery. While the results were inevitably offensive, Sims was excited with how the work stretched the idea of what the image was, what it meant and what people saw. And boy, how it offended. Even Sims’ printer called to complain.

“My printer called me in absolute disbelief over ‘Bamboozled,’” said Sims. “If a printer tells you that? That shows how creative it was.”

The interesting thing about browsing Sims’ exhibit is that it’s just as much a walkthrough of motion picture history as it is of our own cultural history. This is why Sims seems think his exhibit’s title, “Movies and Messages,” couldn’t be any more appropriate.

“People say I’ve developed a style in working with movies, but I wasn’t specifically trying to make something unique or different,” said Sims. “It was all about the messages that came first.”

“Movies and Messages: The Movie Posters of Art Sims”

On display through April 30 MSU Museum 409 W. Circle Drive East Lansing, MI (517) 355-2370, museum. msu.edu