Attica
Artist
Ernest Pignon-Ernest
France, born 1942
Date1974
Dimensions21 3/4 x 15 in. (55.2 x 38.1 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8026
DescriptionThis poster advertises a 1974 documentary produced by Cinda Firestone, an heir to the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company fortune, covering the uprising and subsequent lethal crackdown by authorities that took place at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, from September 9–13, 1971. Firestone's film, with its narrative that was sympathetic to the incarcerated men, was so controversial that her family reportedly disinherited her. The film incorporates documentary footage of the occupation and the subsequent violent raid, as well as video from the McKay Commission hearings that criticized New York State prison authorities and Governor Nelson Rockefeller for their handling of the incident. It also includes interviews with prisoners who had been released in the years after the uprising.
The design of this poster was inspired by the famous Mai ’68 silkscreen street posters made by student protestors in France. The widespread strikes and demonstrations of May and June 1968 were among the most important civilian uprisings of the decade, and the movement’s posters were frequently referenced by social-justice movements around the world.
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