The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) hosts On Paper: The Lincoln Center/List Art Collection now through Aug. 14. Brought to the KIA by New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, this exhibition is packed with posters, limited-edition prints, and photographs created by some of the art world's most well-known masters.

Tom Lollar, director of visual arts at the Lincoln Center and collections committee member at the KIA, commissioned all work in the exhibition, some of which goes back to 1962.

"You can pick out signs of the times by walking through," Lollar said. "It reads like a record of what has happened in Pop Art in the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century."

The exhibition's 108 pieces come from the List Collection, which was founded by Albert and Vera List, who wanted to create a printed poster program that would serve as a gift to decorate the walls of the Lincoln Center. The collection would also be a gateway to include a younger demographic in the expensive art world, allowing them the opportunity to purchase posters at a lower cost than the limited-edition signed and numbered prints.

Much of the collection revolves around advertisements, such as Andy Warhol's Untitled (1967), an enlarged theatre ticket for the New York Film Festival at Philharmonic Hall, complete with Warhol's unmistakable Pop Art twist.

As 2009 was the Lincoln Center's 50th Anniversary, Lollar chose which pieces in the collection would represent and celebrate the Lincoln Center in the On Paper exhibition. Almost all that have not been damaged are included.

Vicki Wright, director of collections and exhibitions at the KIA, says the On Paper exhibition is demonstrative of the colorful, large-scale advertisements that were common in Europe.

"It's cutting-edge contemporary with interesting images," Wright said. "Many are abstract- they grab your eye and your attention- the color and size of them are great for the summer."

Lollar encourages anyone to see the exhibition while they can; it is highly unlikely to leave the Lincoln Center's archives again.

Photo: Louisa Chase, Untitled, 1981, screen print, List Collection, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts