1989 Original Poster for Artis 89's Images Internationales Pour Les Droits De l'Homme Et Du Citoyen - Égalité

Description

Date: 1989
Size: 23.5 x 33 inches
Artist: Hirschhorn, Thomas

About the artist:

Thomas Hirschhorn is a Swiss artist, born … more Date: 1989
Size: 23.5 x 33 inches
Artist: Hirschhorn, Thomas

About the artist:

Thomas Hirschhorn is a Swiss artist, born in 1957. He is known for his political work, particularly his hyper-saturated installations. He has had multiple international solo exhibitions and his work is held in museums like the Tate and MoMA.


During the 1980s, Hirschhorn was part of the influential graphic design group Grapus, which also contributed artwork for Artis 89. This poster integrates photography combined with bold lines and handwritten typography, and reads “Equality, Equality, Equality”.

About The Poster:

In 1989, to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution, Artis 89 asked 66 international artists and designers to create an original poster that would celebrate the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Artis 89 planned a series of simultaneous exhibitions around the world and an accompanying poster catalog.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen is an important human civil rights document that dates back to the 1789 revolution which, combined with Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights, greatly inspired the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Declaration consists of articles concerning equality, freedom, safety, property, and resistance against oppression. Each poster in this collection references one or more of these rights.

The Artis poster collection was named Images internationals pour Les droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen and was printed by Imprimerie Marchand using offset lithography.

The cover page poster for the project, designed by the Grapus Collective reads:

“The World and the declaration of the rights of man. The declaration of the rights of man in the world. These two ideas have given birth to this poster exhibition commemorating the bi-centenary of the French Revolution – a project also inspired by the Warsaw Biennale which, since its creation in 1966, has been a melting pot of social and cultural images. Having involved 66 contemporary artists in this project, we asked them to express, from their own cultural viewpoint, the power of the concept of human rights. Our commitment was to promote their freedom of expression through the execution of this project. Several hundred copies of this event have been distributed and will be shown simultaneously around the world. Carried by this wave, other creators, researchers, and participants on the struggle for human rights have contributed to the bilingual book accompanying the exhibition. “FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, histories, images, and voices” brings together texts, reports, and thoughts on this common denominator: LIBERTY. We are proud to present this artistic and intellectual creation, this blend of hope and lucidity which is our modest contribution to the commemoration of bi-centenary. We invite you to share it with us, to help further its ideals.” less