The Italian Cultural Institute and the California College of the Arts are pleased to announce "High Up: Graphic Design around Town," the second installment of the Mapping the City project, developed by art historian Marina Pugliese for the IIC. As of Thursday, May 19, a series of 11 billboards has appeared in elevated strategic locations around San Francisco. The images were jointly created by a group of Italian and Bay Area graphic designers, under the guidance of curators Geoff Kaplan (CCA Senior Adjunct professor of Design) and Marina Pugliese.

The designers were matched in pairs, each team setting their own specific rules and producing two images in a spirit of the broadest freedom. A collaboration between the Italian Cultural Institute and the California College of the Arts (CCA), in partnership with San Francisco Design Week and the Municipality of Milan, High Up had a sneak preview in Milan, Italy, during the recent "Salone del Mobile," April 8- 30, 2016. In San Francisco, this dematerialized initiative will be on view from May 19 to June 17, serving as a forerunner to San Francisco Design Week -- which this year kicks off on June 2 with a reception at the YBCA Forum and runs until June 9 with more than 200 events.

During the Week, an exhibition with smaller scale version of the posters will be on view in the atrium gallery of the CCA Hooper Graduate Center. The opening will be on Wednesday, June 1st at 5:30pm, with all the designers scheduled to attens, either in person or via skype. 

The teams that created the billboard images are:
Jon Sueda (stripesf.com) • Alizarina (alizarina.net)
Megan Lynch (megan-lynch.com) • Studio FM (studiofmmilano.com)
Geoff Kaplan (generalworkinggroup.com) • LeftLoft (leftloft.com)
Brett MacFadden/Scott Thorpe (mt.j28.us) • Massimo Pitis (pitis.eu/it)
Bob Aufuldish (aufwar.com) • Zetalab (zetalab.com)

About Mapping the City
Mapping the City, a collaborative project promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) of San Francisco and curated by Marina Pugliese, was conceived to further exchanges among Italian contemporary visual artists and their Bay Area counterparts. Its inherent goal is to broaden the compass of cultural initiatives – which are perhaps too often subject to the limits of an organization's specific communities. This project was therefore conceived as an extension outside the physical limits of the Italian Cultural Institute and as an ideal exploration into different realities. www.mappingthecity.org www.iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it

About San Francisco Design Week June 2–9th, 2016
Known globally as hubs for innovation, San Francisco and Silicon Valley are changing the landscape of every day life by creating design-driven products and services. San Francisco Design Week celebrates the Bay Area's unique culture and entrepreneurial spirit. World-renowned designers, entrepreneurs, though leaders, and design enthusiasts will discuss, debate, and explore San Francisco's broad influence on the design world and beyond. Discover why design matters and what the future has in store. Join us for a week of all things design in one of the world's great creative capitals. San Francisco Design Week is produced by AIGA San Francisco. http://www.sfdesignweek.org