Visual Arts

In May 1968, thousands of workers and students took to the streets of Paris, provoking an unprecedented wave of strikes, walkouts and demonstrations. The confrontations between police and protesters led to a general strike of eleven million workers that brought the country to a virtual standstill and nearly toppled Charles de Gaulle's government. The faculty and student body of the Ecole des Beaux Arts were among the strikers, and a number of the students met spontaneously in the college's lithographic department to produce the first poster of the revolt, which bore the declaration "Usines, Universités, Union" ("Factories and universities unite," loosely translated). From this initiative was born the Atelier Populaire (or "popular workshop" ), a collective of print shops that produced hundreds of posters to encourage the protestors and to report on police brutality. These posters included many of the often Situationist-inspired mottos for which May '68 is remembered today, such as "Be young and shut up" and "return to normal" (accompanied by a picture of a herd of sheep). Beauty Is in the Street reproduces more than 200 of these posters in full color, which have since become landmarks in political art and graphic design. Also included is a thumbnail index of an additional 411 posters; a wealth of archival documentary photographs and new translations of firsthand accounts of the clashes between the students and strikers and the police, many published in English for the first time; and an introduction by Philippe Vermès, one of the founders of the Atelier Populaire.

A wide-ranging and unique survey of Art Deco architecture and design, told through postcards of the era.

Art Deco was one of the most captivating and popular artistic movements of the twentieth century, and its iconic blend of luxury and simplicity still bewitches us today. This volume has an entirely original approach to the subject: it features postcards from the 1920s to 1940s—from nightclubs, hotels, and restaurants to skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and airports—each landmark or interior immortalized in miniature.

Emblems of the era, such as the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, appear, as well as a selection of less well-known façades and interiors from around the world. The expositions and world fairs that drove the development of the style were often ephemeral displays, and the book captures these structures that are no longer on the map but have left an enduring legacy.

A special pop-out-and-keep facsimile section includes detachable reproductions of some of the most important and beautiful cards. 250 full-color illustrations

"At the heart of this powerful collection of poems and paintings are the stories Simmons tells from his easel with raw, glaring imagery. The bright colors of his collages provide a contrast to the relentlessly grim portrayals of a society where people are jailed at birth," proclaims renowned author, Ishmael Reed.

This publication accompanied an exhibition held at the QCC Art Gallery from March 19 - May 7, 2010 featuring contemporary paintings by artist Danny Simmons and his collection of African Art.