Illegible

What’s in a word? 

The twentieth century witnessed a world bombarded with written information on an extraordinary scale. This expansion and complication of human communication inspired some artists to create works that prompt viewers to examine how they interact with the written word. 

Illegible features prints, drawings, and paintings on paper that incorporate familiar English words that are playfully manipulated away from any expected usage. Others within the exhibition employ imaginary but expressive scripts inspired by non-Western calligraphy. Each encourages guests to consider how images are “read” and how meaning is derived from marks on paper.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website