First Poster Boy Solo Exhibition At Trinity College Cancelled (Breaking News And The Law)
From The BBC: The street art collective Poster Boy has announced that its first solo show at Connecticut’s Trinity College would be cancelled due to legal concerns. Can the anti-consumer vandals ever go straight? And would they want to?
Three years ago, a vandal with a creative streak caught the attention of the New York media. Dubbed Poster Boy and armed only with a razor blade, he cut up vinyl ads on the subway, turning bright, cheerful marketing campaigns into freakish collages.
The work was exciting but illegal. In 2009 and 2010, 27-year old Henry Matyjewicz was arrested twice, and later admitted his identity as Poster Boy in court…
Read the entire article here:
BBC Reports On Poster Boy Cancellation
The following is an interview that Poster Boy conducted with WTPF last year:
WTPF: how would you describe the relationship between vanguard art and danger, and for you, which element is more important: the aesthetic plastic result of the piece, or the power of provocation of the piece? both of these elements are strongly present in your work, and i wonder if you plan the execution of a piece before you render it. also, please explain the importance of improvisation in your work.
PB: Danger is part of the medium. Without the element of danger the current vanguard would lose an edge that wasn’t really present in preceding movements. 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 the Jazz and Hip Hop.
WTPF – can art change the world or does art only change art? does it even matter? feel free to elaborate.
PB – Art does change the world, but only for those who have the imagination to realize it.
WTPF – what do you think about this statement: “The ultimate protest is against the silence of God”?
PB – I feel every act is a reaction to God’s silence. Whether its protest depends on the person’s understanding of God/consciousness.
WTPF – 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?
PB – 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. Which is probably why the act of illegal poster alteration, however trivial, has been so inspirational and empowering.
WTPF – Your soon to be released book “The War Of Art”, is in my opinion a poem of transformations of transgressions. the transgressions being the vapid and polluting influence of the commercial propaganda that you transform into art and revolutionary statement. Salvador Dali once described himself as a pig that consumes all of the slop of modernity, and shits out gold. Dali of course kept all the gold for himself: why do you do it? please explain what motivates you the most to do what you do.
PB – The book is a poem. A work of art in itself rather than a collection.
I used to resent the fact that I had no positive role models growing up. So now I aspire to be the role model I wish I had. Truth is what motivates me.
WTPF – thank you.
The following are 3 recent works by Poster Boy. They are collages made as cereal boxes. Enjoy:
