A career retrospective of Ron English, the country's most notorious POPagandist, billboard bandit, post-punk prankster and countercultural artist. A seminal figure in the subvertising, or culture jamming movement, in which artists and activists subvert an existing advertisement to send out their own message or encourage free thought, English has pirated over a thousand billboards over the last twenty years, replacing existing advertisements with his own hand-painted subvertisements. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, from Japan to Europe to the former Soviet Union; and are included in prominent collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris and the Whitney Museum in New York.

About the Artist:

RON ENGLISH

United States

One of the most prolific and recognizable artists alive today, Ron English has bombed the global landscape with unforgettable images, on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. English coined the term POPaganda to describe his signature mash-up of high and low cultural touchstones, from superhero mythology to totems of art history, populated with his vast and constantly growing arsenal of original characters, including MC Supersized, the obese fast-food mascot featured in the hit movie “Supersize Me,” and Abraham Obama, the fusion of America’s 16th and 44th Presidents, an image widely discussed in the media as directly impacting the 2008 election. Other characters carousing through English’s art, in paintings, billboards, and sculpture include three-eyed rabbits, utterly delicious cowgirls and grinning skulls, blending stunning visuals with the bitingly humorous undertones of America’s Premier Pop Iconoclast.