The Poster as a Political Aesthetic Device

Abstract

This article approaches the poster as a political aesthetic device, starting from its emergence at the end of the 18th century, continuing with its late introduction into the artistic sphere through the avant-gardes of the 20th century (with special attention to the work of Bertolt Brecht), and finally focusing on the use of posters in contemporary art –more specifically, in the Buenos Aires theatre scene– in the context of artivism. Posters as a device articulate a unique relation between the utterable and the visible, between statements and visibilities, and they find their sense beyond the theatrical ritual in politics. Thus, posters appear as a privileged device for capturing the images and texts of a time.