Hoover Institution Library and Archives: ''Revolutionary Eye: The Political Poster Art of Wolfgang Janisch: 1979-1999''.

STANFORD, Calif. -- The new exhibit "Revolutionary Eye: The Political Poster Art of Wolfgang Janisch: 1979-1999," looks at the work of an ordinary man transformed by political turmoil and his pursuit of justice. Through posters, photographs, and footage from the Hoover Institution Library and Archives this exhibition documents the life and work of East German artist and activist Wolfgang Janisch.

Janisch began making collage posters, similar to the work of the dadaist John Heartfield, as a protest against the policies of the communist dictatorship in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. His posters were a means of expressing his concerns about the repressive policies of the German Democratic Republic and to raise an alarm about the buildup of nuclear weapons on both sides of the Iron Curtain as well as environmental degradation within East Germany. He chose photographs to work with he said, because "if your intentions are honest, then photography is an honest medium in which to work, representing things like the abuse of the environment, disarmament, the threat of war, or other general grievances. You can reveal the bitter truth through photographs."

The central theme in Janisch's work is his respect for the rights of the individual, and especially the right to live in freedom and without fear of violence. He also believes in individual responsibility and feels very strongly that each person has an obligation to stand up against injustice, in whatever form it takes. In speaking of the non-violent protests that brought down the East German government, he said that "our strength was like that of soft water slowly breaking down hard stone." Change can happen, he said, "especially when people take the upright path and do something against injustice."

The exhibit opens to the public September 14 and runs through December 16. The Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion, located at the Hoover Institution on the Stanford University campus, adjacent to Hoover Tower, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. More than forty of Janisch's posters are included in the exhibition as well as a video interview of the artist and screenings of the 1993 documentary film That Was the GDR (licensed by DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, www.umass.edu/defa).

In conjunction with "Revolutionary Eye" the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, will present an exhibit of 120 political posters (the majority on loan from Hoover's collection) from 19 countries titled "Revolutionary Tides: The Art of the Political Poster 1914-1989." Several of Janisch's works are on display in this exhibition as well. This exhibition is open September 14-December 31.