Poster exhibit offers graphic look at social, political issues

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_18855509

By John Farrell

Posted: 09/08/2011

For Carol Wells, founder and executive director of the Los Angeles-based Center for the Study of Political Graphics, it's not unusual, in any given week, to have thousands of posters donated to the organization's collection, which already numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

But despite the quantity, for the exhibition "Peace Press Graphics 1967-1987: Art in the Pursuit of Social Change" - opening with a reception Saturday at the University Art Museum on the Cal State Long Beach campus - it wasn't all that difficult for Wells to select the 120 posters that make up the exhibit.

Peace Press Graphics was in business for only 20 years, and the posters it produced make up only a small - though very important - part of the Center's collection.

The Los Angeles alternative print shop, Wells explained, started creating and printing posters before modern printing methods allowed anyone who wanted to be an artist to do so. Back then, posters were most often printed by local shops that were not interested in political causes and indeed, wanted nothing to do with posters, pamphlets or brochures for anti-war activities, civil rights groups, gay liberation and other social causes.

It was in this sometimes hostile atmosphere that Peace Press Graphics was born, helping progressive groups in Southern California find their voice.

It was founded as a collective with definite ideas about what the group wanted to make. During its two decades of operation, it produced political posters for a variety of causes, concert posters, and hybrid posters that were for shows with political content.

"The majority of the posters are political posters," said Wells, who on Saturday evening will lead a tour of the University Art Museum exhibit.

The posters in the show include works for the Resistance, the Alliance for Survival, Students for a Democratic Society, United Farm Workers and Act Up.

There are political expressions from both sides of the aisle, Wells said.

"In the '60s, they did one poster demanding Palestinian rights and another celebrating the anniversary of the state of Israel," she said. "The two issues weren't as polarized then as they now are."

One poster that probably couldn't be printed now is in the form of a tourist map of Los Angeles, showing every nuclear facility in the area.

"Can you imagine that being done now?" Wells asked. "I don't want to say that it was a freer time then, but I do think that, with the advent of Homeland Security, some things are much more controversial and controlled now."

Though the last of the Peace Press Graphics posters was printed in 1987, they still have great impact.

"The anti-war posters are still current," Wells said. "There are still thousands of American troops fighting in wars overseas. It is scary how much there is a connection from the past to the present. Women's rights are still an issue, war is still an issue and (American Indian activist) Leonard Peltier is still in prison. Almost all the posters are still current."

Not all of the powerful posters are political, however. One shows the naked torso of poet Deena Metzger after she successfully underwent breast cancer surgery.

"It shows her with her arms outstretched, embracing life," Wells said. "My mother had breast cancer and was ashamed of it. If only she had seen this poster it might have changed her life."

Wells and UAM Associate Director Ilee Kaplan co-curated the exhibit, which is being presented in conjunction with the "B-Word Project," a campuswide series of programs on the theme "Banned-Blacklisted-Boycotted: Censorship and the Response to It."

The exhibit also is part of the areawide art initiative "Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980," funded by the Getty Foundation.

John Farrell is a Long Beach freelance writer. More of his articles can be read at http://byjohnfarrell.typepad.com.

Peace Press Graphics 1967-1987: Art in the Pursuit of Social Change

What: Exhibit of posters created by Peace Press Graphics.

When: Opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday and continues through Dec. 11; regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, until 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach campus, near metered parking lot 17 off Merriam Way.

Admission: Free for reception; otherwise $4, free for CSULB students and for children under 12 with an adult.

Information: 562-985-5761 or www.csulb.edu/uam.

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