This fall, School of Visual Arts (SVA) will present “Copy, Cut + Paste: The Visual Language of Ivan Chermayeff,” a collection of rarely seen collage works by the late design legend. A partnership with SVA Archives and curated by Head of Archives Beth Kleber and Assistant Archivist Lawrence Giffin, the exhibition is the result of a significant donation of hundreds of Chermayeff’s works by his family to the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives in 2020, covered in Architectural Digest and The Art Newspaper. In addition to nearly 50 of his collages, the Ivan Chermayeff Collection includes a number of early works, works in progress and professional works, many of which will also be on view Wednesday, September 11, through Tuesday, October 1, at the SVA Gramercy Gallery, 209 E 23^rd St., New York City. 

While Chermayeff is best known for revolutionizing the field of visual communication and designing hundreds of recognizable corporate and institutional logos as one-half of Chermayeff & Geismar—the design firm he co-founded with Tom Geismar in the late 1950s—the pieces on view are largely personal works. A lifelong mixed-media collagist and collector, the objects Chermayeff accumulated invariably found their way into his work, both personal and professional; his interest in adding in and blocking out became a powerful mode of expression.

As evidenced in “Copy, Cut + Paste,” Chermayeff’s art in this arena is notably playful and mischievous. His collages were his own form of drawing, by which he could both exploit the meaning held by the items and create new, unexpected associations. “I love the idea of discovering that two things that have no relationship are the same size and color. It’s like a chef who discovers that bananas are perfectly okay with fish—there are new relationships that when made, come to life,” he once said. “Collage makes it possible for everything to be something else.” Chermayeff’s fascination with the physical world and the detritus of human existence carries with it a command to be present and observant and open.

Before he passed away in 2017, Chermayeff had a long and impactful connection to SVA. He taught at the College beginning in 1959, and notably created some of its iconic New York City Subway posters. In 2010, he and his partners introduced the Visual Identity and Multimedia honors course in the BFA Design program. Among the many distinctions of his career, he was the subject of SVA’s long-running Masters Series Award and Exhibition in 1995, which included some of his most beloved work for brands like Pepsi, Chase, Showtime, and Mobil, and institutions and corporations like the Smithsonian, MoCA, HarperCollins and PanAm.

The exhibition will be on view Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 6:00pm. The gallery is fully accessible by wheelchair. A reception, co-sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery, will be held on Thursday, September 12, 5:30 – 8:00pm.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 7,000 students at its Manhattan campus and more than 42,000 alumni from 128 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 31 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.