Vancouver’s Hot Art Wet City is known for its thought-provoking and insightful art exhibits which mesh pop culture with fine art. The opening reception for the gallery’s new display, Typo, took place Friday, Jan. 10 and proved to be an incredibly crowded affair. Running until Jan. 25, the exhibit provides an intriguing look at typography as an art form.

The exhibit features the work of three artists, each of whom has taken a distinctive approach to their work in an attempt to help viewers understand how typography can have substantial artistic meaning on its own terms.

The gallery is not a large room, but in the midst of a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and an uproar of voices, I managed to snag an interview with artist Frazer Adams on the forms and meanings of his work. His exhibit pieces feature a detailed mingling of letters, geometric shapes, lighting, and outer space.

“I want to spark people’s interest in the natural world,” said Adams. “Almost all of my work incorporates images of the cosmos and I hope to share a taste of the wonder I get from learning about it.”

Having first received an education in graphic design, Adams soon realized that he leaned more towards traditional typography and sign-painting: “I started out in graffiti and became interested in typography as its own art form, [which] is where a lot of my work comes from.”

“I want to spark people’s interest in the natural world.”

Frazer Adams, artist

When asked about the use of typography in his exhibit pieces, he said, “The fun part of typography is designing the letters and the hard part is coming up with the content. I really enjoy creating type by hand and I get a lot of satisfaction out of making crisp type that consistently follows its own rules.”

Typo also displays the works of artist Bennet Slater, who claims his goal is to “have the pop culture and the fine art world be one world that we all live under.” In catching snippets of attendees’ conversations, I could tell that viewers were particularly interested in his clean, refined technique. Slater’s work employs ambiguity through painted typography, which is interwoven with depictions of plants and other organic objects.

Artist Scott Sueme takes a different turn in his work, using an array of cut-outs, paint, and graphic design. Sueme’s interests involve more gritty, urban-looking typography, similar to that of street graffiti.

By the swarm of art critics I had to wade through to exit the building, it’s clear that more than just the artists themselves believe that typography is an art form worthy of note.