Poster Boy show, censored by Trinity College, opens tomorrow at Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Poster Boy: Street Alchemy 2.0
Oct. 20—Jan. 20, 2011.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Oct. 20, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents an exhibition by Poster Boy who comments upon the wide array of political issues. Armed with a razor blade, Poster Boy manipulates vinyl advertisements to create startling, harsh or even humorous mash-ups.

An opening reception on Thurs., Oct. 20 from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6-10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

The installation Street Alchemy 2.0 is an immersive spatial experience created with altered billboards. The typical relationship between individual and billboard is a curious one. Billboards traditionally loom over individuals seducing them through promises of success, security and savings. Poster Boy subverts this relationship, neuters these imposing images by bringing them down to eye level within a gallery space. The billboards in Street Alchemy 2.0 no long hold any power over consumers. We can laugh at their attempts to dupe us while relishing the clever and snide reconfigurations of Poster Boy's handiwork.

The works for Street Alchemy were originally designed for an exhibition at Trinity College. But school administrators canceled the show in mid-September. Real Art Ways has a history of championing artists and artistic expression and promoting dialogue about censored works.

Poster Boy describes itself as an artist collective based in Brooklyn, New York. Poster Boy is known for manipulating and repurposing self-adhesive advertisements in the platforms of New York City subway stations to create satiric, collage-like street art. Combining disparate elements of multiple advertisements into one composition the work calls attention to the oversaturation of commercially driven media that individuals are exposed to on a daily basis. There is always an element of humor in Poster Boy's work, and it is usually sardonic and politically driven. Critical of corporate and celebrity culture the work is a raw and spontaneous form of culture jamming inspired by "mash-ups" and the impromptu nature of hip hop "freestyling."