“The Bay Area has created a network of artists from different generations and these artists have been very supportive to each other. This is exactly what the essence of the show is: That beyond these being great works of art there’s an entire ecosystem in which these posters flourish, and that ecosystem is made up of people who support each other - collectives, print shops, radical people from all walks of life, all ethnicities.”
- Favianna Rodriguez, Click here to read the full article
This is a quote from the recent article published in Oakland Local about the amazing social justice poster exhibition at the Oakland Museum of CA, running through August 19, 2012. This poster show includes work from some of the artists have shaped my aesthetic style, including Juan Fuentes, Emory Douglas, San Francisco Print Brigade, and my good friends, Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes of Dignidad Rebelde.
I recently was interviewed for this show, and I am really happy with how the article accurately reflected my love for this format called the political poster. The article explains:
Rodriguez places such urgency on understanding the history of political posters because she believes this knowledge is essential to the future of the art. Understanding the organizational structures that facilitate the production of prints is vital; so too is understanding the role posters have played in galvanizing public sentiment.
But even as she urged for political posters to be considered an art, she made a point of differentiating them from traditional art forms. She described them as necessarily public and mass-produced. By her definition, a political poster must be created with the intention to be shared, not sold in a gallery.
This article is spot on! I highly encourage you to not only read it, but to visit the show itself! Below are some images from the show.
If you come on May 26th, you can catch me doing live screenprinting from 2:00 - 3:30 pm and giving away posters. more info here
Click here to read the full article
Poster by 1970s Berkeley Workshop, more info
Poster by People's Press Workshop, more info
Poster by Favianna Rodriguez (one of my really early ones!), more info
