Next event at the gallery! Seth and I are very excited to present the LA launch of Poster Boy’s debut monograph, The War of Art, which was published by the awesome NYC-based Mark Batty Publisher.

To celebrate, we will be hosting a book release and signing on Saturday, August 28th from 6-8pm. We will also have limited edition prints from Poster Boy and videos of him at work. A portion of book and art sales will be contributed to K.A.R.A.T.E., a legal defense fund created to support artists in times of need.

The book’s really cool: it’s nicely designed and is packed with Poster Boy’s work from the past few years, including his MOMA mash-ups, collaborations with Aakash Nihalani and homages to other artists, including Keith Haring, Damian Hirst, Invader, Princess Hijab, Decapitator, MOMO and Booker.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Poster Boy event without a catch: the book launch is taking place in four different cities all on the same night! So if you don’t live in LA, you can catch PB and pick up a book in New York (17 Frost Gallery), London (Pure Evil Gallery) or Miami (EA District).

It’s going to be a fun night so come along for a drink if you’re around! 

 “Art does change the world, but only for those who have the imagination to realize it.”

– Poster Boy

Here’s a bit about Poster Boy in case you don’t know his work yet:

Poster Boy is an anonymous New York City-based street art collective whose only utensil is a razor. Poster Boy is known for collaged works created by cutting out sections of the self-adhesive advertisement posters in the platforms of New York City subway stations and pasting them back in different positions. Garish corporate communications become bold, satiric, socio-political statements at the hand of Poster Boy. 

“Danger is part of the medium…” a representative of Poster Boy observed in a recent interview for Where The Pieces Fall. “As far as aesthetics and provocation goes, both are necessary in art. Well, good art least.

“For better or worse, I don’t plan much. For me, improvisation is protest against the urge to preserve, polish, and market everything. Something I learned from jazz and hip hop.”

Interviewer Javier Hernandez-Miyares commented that “what inspires me the most about your art, and the movement in which you are one of its leaders, is that a dialectical relationship exists between the work and the audience. In your case, other Poster Boys and Girls have adopted your methods, and have become protagonists. Were you surprised that this occurred?”

The representative responded, “I wasn’t surprised at all. I actually anticipated this by establishing Poster Boy as a platform for anyone willing to participate. People want to feel alive, but apathy is a serious hurdle for some. This is probably why the act of illegal poster alteration, however trivial, has been so inspirational and empowering.”

As the Poster Boy manifesto states: “More important than the longevity and popularity of the art, or vandalism, is what Poster Boy stands for: understanding the difference between what is legal and what is right.”

Poster Boy’s artwork and activism have garnered a wide stream of online and print press from media outlets such as The New York Times, NY Magazine, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Gawker, Wooster Collective, The Art Street Journal, Giant Mag, Untitled II: The Beautiful Renaissance, ANIMAL New York, Hyperallergic, Friends We Love, NY Post, Street Art New York, Brooklyn Street Art, Unurth, Graphotism, Vandalog, Banksy Prints, Curated Magazine, Hip Hop Press, NY Press, Glltn, FAD, Public Ad Campaign, Celebrifi, Politifi, Urban Interventions, SlamxHype, Juxtapoz, Anti Advertising Agency, Bushwick BK and The New Yorker. He is also featured in Exit Through The Gift Shop.

Poster Boy’s Flickr

- Elisa