Angry Graphics: Protest Posters of the Reagan/Bush Era

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. (Oct.)