Monmouth University is pleased to announce the opening of the gallery exhibition, Mike Quon: The Art of a Designer, featuring artwork by the Fairhaven artist. The exhibit will be on display in Rechnitz Hall’s two-level DiMattio gallery from January 22 through March 15. Quon will be giving an artist talk on February 8 at 6 pm in Wilson Hall Auditorium followed by an opening reception in the gallery from 7– 9pm.
Born into the world of art and design, Mike Quon learned the ropes early on from his father who was an art director and an animator and promotional artist at Disney working on classics like Dumbo and Fantasia. After graduating from UCLA School of the Arts, Quon launched his own career as an art director at J. Walter Thompson and Young and Rubicam before establishing his award-winning design office in New York City 30 years ago. Since then, Mike’s bold and bright promotional illustrations for advertising and editorial campaigns, his graphic design collateral and packaging, and his hand-crafted logos have been seen around the world, helping to promote events like the Summer Olympics and build lasting brand identities for consumer products, businesses and nonprofits.
Of his work Quon explains, “Sometimes the mixing of styles is what’s so exciting for me. It gives me total freedom to experiment.” Influences include his mentors at UCLA, abstract expressionist painter Richard Diebenkorn and pop artist Ed Ruscha. Quon’s favorite subjects revolve around breathing new life into the architecture of urban environments and landmarks of special interest, and even everyday objects. Working in acrylics, oil pastels, watercolors, as well as pen and ink and mixed media, his combines a flat color field infused with a collage of styles, from abstract to representational bold brush stroke, fine line to painterly, and everything in between.
Mike Quon: The Art of a Designer is on display through March 15 in Rechnitz Hall’s DiMattio Gallery. The exhibit is free and open to the public. More information about this event can be found on the Center’s website at monmouth.edu/mca or by calling 732.263.5715.
