Art of the Poster Talk | Rangsook Yoon

What is Art Deco? Join Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., Senior Curator at Sarasota Art Museum, for an exploration of the transformational forces that created Art Deco, a global cultural and artistic phenomenon that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Spanning architecture, decorative arts, posters, book design and more, Art Deco reflected the rapidly changing world between the wars.

Dr. Yoon offers a sweeping overview of the movement, where gorgeous modern style and a hint of luxury appealed to ordinary middle-class consumers. Specialty and department stores became hubs of fashion and showcases for distinctive home goods and luxury items, while advertising posters offered sophistication and modernity for almost every budget. Art Deco objects carried some of the vitality and glamor of cultural meccas such as Paris and Berlin during the Roaring Twenties and 1930s. Dr. Yoon shows how the Art Deco posters on view capture the cosmopolitan optimism of the era.

About Rangsook Yoon

Dr. Rangsook Yoon is Senior Curator at Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design. She previously served as Curator of Modern Art and Director of Curatorial Affairs at Artis–Naples, The Baker Museum, and oversaw exhibitions, public programs, and artist residencies at the Art & History Museums–Maitland.

Her academic work and publications span early modern European art, modern and contemporary art from Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and art theory. Born and educated in South Korea, she studied at Korea University in Seoul, and then earned a PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She was a professor at nationally ranked liberal arts colleges before beginning her museum career at the Rollins Museum of Art. In 2021-22, she was selected as one of ten international curators for the Association of Art Museum Curators’ Propel Program. She continues to mentor emerging artists and curators and serves on the advisory board of the Sarasota-based Halo Arts Project, which supports regional artists through grants and community engagement.