For the 40th anniversary of the protests (and street art) of Paris 68 I complied and designed a piece in celebration. Participating artists include: Jody Barton, Scott Boylston, Seymour Chwast, Sun Dawang, Gwenaëlle Gobé, Josh MacPhee, Finn Nygaard, UG Sato, Chris Stain, James Victore, Brett Yasko, John Yates (and myself), with an introduction by Carol Wells of CSPG.
Like the originals, the piece is made from 1 color tabloid prints, distro'ed for free through several places including CSPG. You can also order one from me via mail (+ shipping and handling), you can contact me direct. Otherwise, I will be listing on Monday/Tuesday the final events/shows and galleries distributing copies through the US and abroad.
Essay from Carol Wells:
68 was an explosive, creative and legendary year. Many student activists believed that 1968 was the start of a world wide revolution. Almost four decades before 2003, when the Internet helped coordinate the participation of between 10 and 40 million people in simultaneous world wide demonstrations against the Iraq War, there was 1968, the year that student-led protests erupted around the world. Whether protesting the Viet Nam War or domestic repression—and often linking the two—protestors in Chicago, Mexico City, Paris, Prague, Tokyo and many other cities were tear gassed, clubbed and shot. The death tolls in Mexico City are still disputed. The one thing is not disputed, is the importance of graphics to publicize the demands and grievances. Hundreds of posters anonymously produced by artists and students were plastered all over Paris and other cities. Those produced through the Atelier Populaire were the most widely distributed and are the best known today. Their power, simplicity and directness communicated the students’ demands, and helped forge solidarity with French workers. The brief but almost mythical French student-worker alliance led to a general strike throughout France by ten million French workers, roughly two-thirds of the French workforce.
The posters of Paris 1968 inspired—and in some cases were directly copied—by students and artists across the world. Forty years later they continue to inspire. Forty years later, there is another unpopular and devastating war, countless workers are still exploited, human rights abuses abound and many governments are more powerful and repressive than ever. The posters in this portfolio make direct reference to the rawness and forcefulness of the posters of Paris ’68. They also speak directly to contemporary issues. If a poster makes you think about the world, it has achieved its goal. If a poster makes you think about the world a little differently, inspires action, moves you to publicly post them or makes you want to design your own poster, it has exceeded its goal.
There has never been a movement for social change without the arts—music, poetry, theater, posters— being central to that movement. Posters are one of the most accessible and democratic art forms. They can educate, agitate and inspire. We need powerful graphics now more than ever, as a weapon in the ongoing struggle for peace with justice. —Carol A. Wells
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