“I heard that it was an attack, and my first reaction was to draw”. “People are asking me, ‘Are you proud?’ and all that”, Jullien said of the famous figures distributing his work.
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Peace for Paris is a simple painting produced in a few strokes, combining the Eiffel Tower with the symbol of peace that started life as the logo for Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). It wasn’t particularly an illustrator’s response, he said, “more an instinctive, human reaction”. In sheer numbers the NY tragedy was clearly much worse that those in France, but all three share some things in common: they all make people feel vulnerable – just like they do in Paris today – they all took away a little innocence and sucked the joie de vivre right out of the air. But in an interview with Wired, Jullien said he intended his design to be “an image for everyone”. It was the only thing I could think of doing and my way of expressing to all of my loved ones in Paris…
Celebrities have also joined in on sharing the iconic image.
The cast of the hit NBC sitcom Undateable – which had its Friday episode postponed – shared a snap of the actors holding signs that depicted Jullien’s image.
When Jullien woke up Saturday morning, he discovered the “Peace for Paris” symbol had gone viral. “So I just sort of started checking on my friends and family through social media, and everybody was saying “I’m OK”, Jullien told Slate via Skype. “It didn’t seem appropriate to us”, Isabelle Esnous, Director of Communication at the tower, told AFP.
In the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, social media was swarmed with tricolor-themed messages of panic, condolences, pleas for information – and also of peace.
The landmark has been closed since Friday when 129 people were killed by Isis militants.
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At one point, Twitter users were crediting the street artist Banksy with creating the image after a Banksy fan account shared it, us in the United Kingdom.
