Grotesque Les Conscience

Here is another exhibition I would go to if I could: La publicité au secours des grandes causes, which is being held at Les Arts Décoratifs in France until the 9th of May. This exhibition showcases explicitly political art that has been created for French associations and institutions in order to "strike the conscience." The works are divided into six themes: human rights, the humanitarian, ecology, health, exclusion and social security, education and good citizenship.



I was struck straight away by how many of these images make use of hybrid bodies, the human/plant/animal/object blends characteristic of the traditional grotesque. These posters are an excellent example of the political potential of so called 'grotesque' images. Click to have a closer look.












The little foot/tree below really gets to me. It is reminiscent of the elephant/fly, but infinitely sadder.

You can see more of these poster here, or visit the exhibition page here. Warning: some of these images are very disturbing. That is their intention.

[Via Street Anatomy and le Blog de Bango]