Angry Graphics: Protest Posters of the Reagan/Bush Era

A survey of political protest posters from the 1980s. Well illustrated. iv , 92 pages. paper wrappers.. 8vo..

During the 1980s, while Republicans stayed put in the White House, snipers (as the people who create, print and affix these protest posters call themselves) roamed New York City's Lower East Side, expressing their discontent with business as usual. These 77 examples of such work are often extremely graphic and always pointed. They touch on myriad issues, including gentrification and the environment. One billboard shows a photograph of an erection with the legend Men use condoms or beat it. Another poster depicts row after row of crosses in a cemetery, each topped wth a mortarboard, under the heading George Bush, 'The Education President.' Well-known artists such as Barbara Kruger and groups such as the Guerrilla Girls and ACT-UP are represented here, but there are also plenty of unfamiliar names and anonymous works. Heller, the art director of the New York Times, contributes an essay on the history of protest posters, including the work of the German anti-Nazi group White Rose. Jacobs, a contributor to Metropolis magazine, writes about the meaning of sniping today, calling this effective method of discourse 3:00 A.M. talk radio made visible.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Sniping with graphics rather than guns, politically conscious artists post their feelings, often late at night and armed only with wheat paste and heartfelt dedication. Jacobs and Heller could have made an encyclopedia with what they collected. Instead, they skimmed the surface of this latest manifestation of a centuries-old tradition--resistance on paper--recognized as both art and an agent for social change through the likes of Honore Daumier, Mark Twain, and John Heartfield. The book is largely visual and focuses on current work primarily from urban centers where controversial issues are openly debated in front of anyone who cares to look. Caring is the message. It is not mere graffiti and is not pornographic. But it is the kind of art designed to make you think: Strong images evoke powerful feelings, quite uncensored. Bound to be very popular, so you'd better get a reference copy.
- Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.