For Udo Schliemann there is no separation between free and applied art. His artistic work informs his functional graphic design. With 'Grenzgänger: Border Crosser' Schliemann explores how the disciplines both rely on the interaction of colour and pattern, the sensibility of a line and the gradations of colour fields to engage the viewer. Focusing on the tension and relationship between order and chaos and how each state can have its own aesthetic expression, Schliemann creates works that vibrate and capture our imagination.

Schliemann is Principal Creative Director at Entro Communications specializing in graphic design, corporate identities, and environmental design. A native of Germany, he graduated from the Technical College for Design in Würzburg in 1982, and started his career at the design studio Stankowski+Duschek in Stuttgart before arriving in Canada with his family in 1999 to work at Gottschalk+Ash International. Udo was mentored by Anton Stankowski (1906-1998), one of Germany's foremost graphic designers, who championed the unity between art and design through his applied art as well as his constructivist painting and photography.