Revolucion!: Cuban Poster Art

Lincoln Cushing, Chronicle Books

Chronicle Books, 2003 - Design - 131 pages

The poster was the popular art form in Cuba following the Cuban Revolution, when the government sponsored some 10,000 public posters on a fascinating range of cultural, social, and political themes. Revolucin!, produced with unprecedented access to Cuban national archives, assembles nearly 150 of these powerful but little—seen works of popular art. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the posters rallied the Cuban people to the huge task of building a new society, promoting massive sugar harvests and national literacy campaigns; opposing the U.S. war in Vietnam; celebrating films, music, dance, and baseball with a unique graphic wit and exuberant colorful style. With an introduction illuminating the rich social and artistic history of the posters, and rare biographical information on the artists themselves, this striking volume offers a window into the story of Cuba—and a truly revolutionary chapter in graphic design.

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Revolucin̤!: Cuban poster art

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As a Cuban immigrant, Cushing brings a personal commitment to Cuban poster art, which he has spent the last 20 years cataloging, preserving, and bringing to public attention. The author, who was given ...

Contents

• Introduction: 7
• NATIONAL PRIDE: 22
• PRODUCTION AND RESOURCES: 36
• SPORTS AND HEALTH: 48
• SOLIDARITY AND REVOLUTION: 60
• EDUCATION AND CULTURE: 100
• Notes: 114
• The Artists: 117
• Bibliography: 123
• Index of Posters by Title: 126
• Acknowledgments: 130

Popular passages

Page 114 - ... the despotic rule of the Stalinist revolution"6 and suggested great breadth for expression consistent with revolutionary goals.7 The most frequently quoted passage of this speech is the most ambiguous one: . . . within the Revolution, everything: against the Revolution, nothing. Against the Revolution, nothing, because the Revolution also has its rights and the first right of the Revolution is to exist, and against the right of the Revolution to be and exist, nobody ... I believe that this is...‎

Page 19 - Cuba through the difficult period following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc in the early to mid- 1990s.‎

Page 20 - Carol Wells, of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles...‎

Page 9 - Institute (1CAIC) and the Organization in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL).‎

Page 10 - Organization in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia, and Latin America is a non-governmental agency recognized by the United Nations that produces international solidarity posters in Cuba.‎

Page 24 - Bay, as the only alternative to remaining under direct US military rule. A cycle of dependence on US approval had begun, only to be eventually broken with the revolution against Batista in 1959.‎

Page 124 - Office of Hispanic Arts, Mason Gross School of the Arts. Rutgers University, and the Research lnstitute for Cuban Studies, Graduate School for lnternational Studies.‎

About the author

Lincoln Cushing was born in Cuba to American parents before emigrating to the U.S. As a graphic designer and archivist, he has worked with the Cuban national library, the University of California at Berkeley, and other collections to preserve and catalog these amazing posters. He lives in Berkeley.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Revolucion!: Cuban Poster Art
• Authors: Lincoln Cushing, Chronicle Books
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2003
• ISBN: 0811835820, 9780811835824
• Length: 131 pages
• Subjects: Design / Graphic Arts / Advertising