Martinsville Native Johnny Selman To Show At Piedmont Arts

Graphic designer Johnny Selman brings his critically acclaimed poster series BBCx365 and a collection of illustrations created for The New York Times to Piedmont Arts in the exhibit, Old News.

To create BBCx365, Selman designed one poster per day for 365 days. Each poster is based on a headline from that morning's BBC news. Selman says the purpose of his project was "to open the eyes of the American public to international current events not often covered in our ‘domesticated' news programming." The project served as Selman's MFA thesis project and gained national attention from BBC News, Guardian UK and GOOD Magazine, among others.

A Martinsville native and 1999 graduate of Martinsville High School, Selman now lives in New York City where he operates Selman Design, a studio that creates brand identities, editorial illustrations, books, websites, environmental graphics, posters and other communications for clients including Google, The New York Times, The Albert Einstein Institution, The Population Council, Rooster Walk and The School of Visual Arts.

Several of Selman's original illustrations and designs for The New York Times will also be on display as part of Old News. Titled simply New York Times, these works were created for the newspaper's OP/ED, Book Review and Sunday Review sections from 2011 to 2013.

In addition to Old News, Tapestry: The Joy of Creating Art is Our Common Thread, featuring a wide range of works by artists from the Studio Group of Rockingham County, NC will be displayed in the Lynwood Artists Gallery.

Old News and Tapestry will be on display at Piedmont Arts from Dec 14, 2013 through Feb 8, 2014. Piedmont Arts exhibits are admission free through the membership support of people like you. Gallery hours are Monday - Friday from 10 am - 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am - 3 pm.

A Members-Only Reception will be held in honor of these exhibits on Friday, Dec 13 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at Piedmont Arts. Piedmont Arts members and guests are invited to attend this admission-free reception, sponsored by Lindsay Hoyer and Aaron Rawls, Vivian and Larry McDorman, Lynnie Mitchell, Joan and Monty Montgomery, Susan and John Selman, Loretta and John Yeaman and Lynwood Artists. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP at 276.632.3221 or online at www.piedmontarts.org.