With his 2014 show Imposters, Orijit Sen explored the visual worlds of posters, particularly screen-printed posters. While the traditional printed poster is a marginalized form now, with shrinking public spaces in our cities now dominated by large-scale, commercial digital printing, the internet and social media have become the medium of choice for announcements, publicity, and propaganda. Of course, posters continue to survive within certain specific contexts – such as at public protests, political rallies, or on college campuses.

The very limitations of the old media – limited colors and tones, higher production costs and logistics of dissemination, etc., gave rise to graphic forms that were distinctive and beautiful. Sen says: “I am particularly fascinated by the ways that posters balance the need to grab attention with arresting graphics and type, and then draw the viewer into a more nuanced or layered exposition of the subject at hand.”

While engaging with Popular Culture of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s—the golden age of posters, these retrospectively created ‘Imposters’, take full advantage of hindsight to investigate and play upon some of the influential events, people, cities, and ideas of the time. In unpacking the iconic imagery of traditional poster art, these graphic renditions move between homage and spoof, between the real and the imaginary, between fiction and fact. Seen collectively, the images and texts on these posters also constitute a personal commentary on the many cultural and political histories that the artist grew up with.