Grapus

Grapus is the title given to a group of graphic artists who worked together between 1970 and 1991 and was founded by Pierre Bernard. The collective comprised of Francois Miehe, Gérard Paris-Clave, Pierre Bernard, Alex Jordan and Jean-Paul Bachollet, but the group did not find its equilibrium until Miehe’s departure in 1978.

Each were members of the French Communist Party (PCF). Early efforts concentrated on creating a view of the left, and the group created Posters for theatre groups, and councils as well as political campaigns. This was the main function of the group who refused to undertake work in the commercial field.

Across the world, for the past 20 years students have been inspired by the graphic design work of Grapus. This has been due to the very distinctive style of picture making, from an individual scrawl with the use of bright colours to visual pranks which shows the unpredictable nature of this work.

During the period of 20 years, Grapus remained Communists and idealists and continued to operate as one group: any work the studio produced was signed ‘Grapus’ even when their members had grown to around 20. The group at that time was separated into three collectives. Grapus finally disbanded in January 1991, although it was the end of Grapus the remaining members formed into three independent design groups who still work today.