Friday 20 May 2011

BEAUTY IS IN THE STREET.


Many will already know all about the 1968 Paris student uprising, with the highly iconic imagery which came as a result. Something we, those before us and since, have paid tribute to over the years.
Let's not underestimate the impact it has had in popular culture, inspiring music such as the Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses, The Pretenders and The Chemical Brothers. Films such as Bertolucci's The Dreamers and Godard's La Chinoise and literature such as Derrière la vitre by Robert Merle and The The Merry Month of May by James Jones. In May of that year Paris ground to a halt, demonstrations against the French government spread across universities, factories and the workplace; resulting in a general strike of eleven million workers that brought the country to a virtual standstill.
Among the students were a group who called themselves the Atelier Populaire, who produced hundreds of hand made posters to encourage the protesters and to report on police brutality and political propaganda. Many of which look as striking and provocative today as they did back then, most of which have become sought after genuine works of art.

A new book is released this month, Beauty Is In The Street - which reproduces over 200 of these posters which have become landmarks in political art and graphic design. Also included are a wealth of photographs, many published for the first time, and translations of first-hand accounts of the clashes between the students and strikers and the police. This doesn't appear to be some elusive hard copy you won't find for love nor money, we're looking forward to getting one. Four Corners Books CD







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