by your boy

◦ Charlie Chaplin impersonator

◦ Failed Art Career in France

◦ 1945: Ho Chi Minh declares independence
w/ a ‘provisional government’
Seeks talks with US.

◦ 1950: France ends occupation of Vietnam

◦  Ho Chi Minh meetings ignored by US.

◦ A US, scared of communist expansion,

takes reigns of Vietnam conflict

◦ France negotiates terms dividing Vietnam:

north and south

◦ US backs the corrupt ruler Diem

of South Vietnam

◦ US. okays assassination of said corrupt rul-

er; Backs new corrupt ruler

◦ US. & puppet government are not

content with the division. They use war to
try to expand the territory, suffering losses.
◦ Napalm is okayed for use
in “war” in Vietnam

◦ DOW chemical, inventor of napalm (now

Monsanto/Bayer), is protested by student
organizations at U of Wisconsin at Madison

◦  Students arrested; police brutality,

law suits filed; students lose

◦ Civil Rights activism, is active since the

1950’s continues to fight for rights and
freedoms for African Americans

◦ 159 race riots erupt during the

“summer of love.” Including Detroit, the
bloodiest battle of the “Long hot summers”
of the 60’s (1967)

◦ Anti-War protests explode, as young

Americans fight for their right to live -
not understanding the nonsensical
war on foreign soil

◦ 4 Kent State Students shot at school

in Ohio by National Guard, 1970
◦ Led French Free Forces in resistance to
Germany in WWII

◦ Strong nationalist/conservative beliefs

for his “Fatherland”

◦  Symbol of French pride, but also a torch

of the political Patriarchy of old

◦ Founder of “Gaullist” Party and subsequent

basis of Gaullist beliefs which lasted for
decades

I
◦ Students of Paris University at Nanterre
organized occupation protest held with
notable poets and musicians in attendance

◦ The students were met with police violence;

the protest garnered the press they desired;
the University was closed as punishment

◦ The protests began partially to oppose

French support of the US in Vietnam, and
partially regarding students rights: Men and
women were not allowed to sleep together
in the dorms they afforded
◦ Police brutality had been televised regarding
the authoritarian regime in the United States,
but it was now street-side

◦ The television news networks weren’t

covering the violent scenes in Paris
◦ Students of Sobborne university of Paris met
on May 3rd to protest in solidarity.
Met with...
◦ Students of Sobborne university of Paris met
on May 3rd to protest in solidarity.
Met with police and brutality

◦ May 6th a collaboration of unions called a

march to protest police invasion of the
Sorbonne.

◦  20,000 plus marchers were met by police

brutality at the doors of the Sorbonne.
Protesters created barricades and the first
paver stone was thrown.
◦ In May 1968 students and faculty of the
L’ecole des Beaux-Arts occupied the print
studios and communally created droves of
posters supporting the revolution

◦ The prints were created in a serigraph

(silkscreen) and lithograph (stone) feat.
  colors, pop icons, and visual messages to
plaster in street-side ad real estate
◦ Posters were made collaboratively and were
signed with a stamp “L’ateliere Populaire”
(The Popular Workshop)

◦ The posters deliver sharp cutting political

sentiments with childish iconography

◦  “A Youth Disturbed Too Often by the Future”

◦ “The Vote Changes Nothing:

The Struggle Continues”

◦ “The police are exhibiting at the art school

the art school is exhibiting in the street”
◦ 1942 - 2015

◦ Graphic Designer

◦  Member of French Communist Party

◦ 2006 Erasmus Prize Winner

◦ Founding member of Grapus

◦ Founder of L’Atelier Création Graphique

◦ Studied with famed poster artist

Henryk Tomaszewski
◦ 1943 - Present

◦ Graphic Designer

◦  Member of French Communist Party

◦ Founding member of Grapus

◦ Studied with famed poster artist

Henryk Tomaszewski
◦ Unknown - Present

◦ Graphic Designer

◦  Member of French Communist Party

◦ Founding Member of Grapus

◦ Bold, Sharp cutting, unapologetic designs
aimed at social conscience

Often employing pop culture references and

◦ “detournement’ style of collage

Human mark making, traditional art media

◦ 
Handcrafted typography
◦
Bright Colors, playful symbols

◦ Visual hi-jinks

◦ Expansive semiotic vocabulary

◦ Grapus is against consumption, and
commodity, and for this reason they do not
produce their art for sale. No books,
no prints, on principle

◦ Their work has entered the high art world,

and coffee table book, to their dismay.

◦ Their designs function as urgent-human

messages, that encourage interaction
 
◦ Post WWII poster designer in a soviet
Poland Tomaszewski famously abandoned
the going trend of socialist realism in favor of
loose abstraction, and hand crafted style of
“animated” and “witty” posters.
◦ Student of Cooper Union in New York City

◦ Career Illustrator and Designer

◦ Founding Member of Pushpin Studio

◦ Still working today

◦ Student of Cooper Union in New York City

◦ Career Illustrator and Designer

◦ Founding Member of Pushpin Studio

◦ Inventor of “I (heart) NY” Logo

◦ Nationwide general-strikes occur halting
production and the entire French economy

◦ Leader Charles de Gaulle is forced to

promise and follow through
democratic elections

◦ People from all different walks of life band

together to envision a new future for France