Wednesday, September 19, 2007

One man's kitsch...

by shamanic

A big thank-you to Andrew Sullivan, who links to a blog I immediately bookmarked, "A Soviet Poster a Day".

He calls it kitsch, but I've always been fascinated by the propaganda art of modern totalitarian regimes, extending to the iconic images of free nations during the world wars we fought against those regimes (this is one of my favorite American WWII pieces, although Rosie the Riveter - in all her guises - simply can't be beaten for the spirit she injected into America's post-war future).

In 2006, I did the marketing for a performance art event that had been scheduled for April 15. The tax day tie-in was just irresistible to the group, which titled the show "Workers of the World Unite: An exploration of 'making it' in America". I spent a week happily photoshopping Soviet propaganda pictures, some of which definitely counted as true industrial-era art, and test-driving all kinds of Cyrically-inspired fonts. I ended up with a little gallery that I still love, here.

And because I know you're wondering: The show went very well.

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