Merce Cunningham & Dance Company Latin American Tour 1968

Instead of a shaped canvas, the work Merce Cunningham & Dance Company Latin American Tour 1968 designed by Frank Stella can be called a 'shaped poster'. The design clearly corresponds to images from Stella's Protractor series dated 1967-70. The half circle form is divided visually by bands of bright color into quarter circles. Thick bands of color alternate as in his other works from the same time. Stella incorporates words from the advertisement seamlessly into his piece; the curved lines fill in outer band and repeat inwardly so that some symmetry is retained. Even before designing the poster Stella created the set and costumes for a performance by Merce Cunningham in 1967. It is interesting to note that Stella adapts his artistic ideas on structure, repetition and seriality into other media and that he was so successful in doing so.