Results tagged “posterboy”

Poster Boy, allegedly the 27-year-old Henry Matyjewicz (though possibly a collective of more than one person), has been somewhat quiet since his arrest a party in January. You know, save for that whole MoMA incident. Well tonight he's got his first solo show, though don't expect him to show up (he'll likely take the Banksy route and not attend). Do expect some undercover cops to be there (leave that graffiti paraphernalia at home lest you want Officer Tom Hanson jumping you).

Is an unlikely bromance in the air? Has Paul Rudd reached out to Poster Boy with specifics about how he wants the I Love You, Man ad campaign altered? This letter was spotted on the downtown 6 platform at 51st Street. The actor does like to take on fake names (at a recent Virgin Megastore appearance he went under "Fred Rudd"), so giving himself a musical moniker of "Raul" does fit his M.O. However, this is probably just the work of a crazy Rudd fan, or some sort of plan by Dreamworks to enliven their boring posters.

You would think MoMA would love an edgy ad campaign that draws even more attention to the museum than expected. However, following Doug Jaeger of HappyCorp's alleged involvement with Poster Boy's crew to alter their installation at the Atlantic/Pacific subway stop, they've severed all ties with the company (who created the campaign). Kim Mitchell at MoMA tells us, "No one at The Museum of Modern Art had any role in or prior knowledge of the acts of vandalism committed against posters in the Museum's installation in the Atlantic Avenue subway station. On February 27 we ended all work to be done by Doug Jaeger and thehappycorpglobal on this project and all others, and have completely severed our relationship with the company. The Museum deplores any kind of vandalism and is profoundly distressed that the posters were defaced." Prudes. No word yet on if HappyCorp has severed any ties with Poster Boy. To be continued!?

As of Tuesday, Doug Jaeger of HappyCorp was cleverly wording his comments about his and Poster Boy's involvement in the alteration of MoMA's subway ad campaign in Brooklyn, which he developed. According to Jaeger, he met Poster Boy, who he says is more than one person, and that he and some others were in the subway system the night the ads were deconstructed.

Have you all been enjoying that MoMA installation (ad campaign) at the Atlantic/Pacific stop in Brooklyn? Well, it just got a little bit Picasso on us, so you may want to take another look. NYMag reports that Poster Boy and Aakash Nihalani have altered the classic works. However, there is question as to whether proof this "vandalism," that took place this past Saturday at 2 a.m., was all part of the master plan.

Poster Boy, whoever he may be, is back in the papers today following a court date. The NY Post, who is hell bent on helping nab the "Hell Razor," reports that the street artist "thumbed his nose at Brooklyn prosecutors yesterday and turned down a deal that would have kept him out of jail." The 27-year-old Henry Matyjewicz didn't seem keen on pleading guilty to the top charge of criminal mischief, which would land him 100 hours of community service. Now he awaits an April court date, and possibly a trial that could put him behind bars for a year. Yesterday the artist covered his mouth with his trademark scarf and let his lawyer, Kerry Gotlib, do the talking. Gotlib told the paper: "Of course it was rejected," adding that his client is a "well-educated, well-spoken citizen" and innocent of the charges being brought against him.

Is Poster Boy angling to be street art's Keyser Söze? He's only fooling the Paper of Record so far, after a friend of the artist told them “Poster Boy can be anybody.” Mysterious!

Following Poster Boy's arrest over the weekend, The NY Post sheds some more light on how things went down. First off, they identified the street artist as 27-year-old Henry Matyjewicz, and go on to report that he "was busted after an undercover officer overheard him bragging to a girl about his exploits at a party." That's so 21 Jump Street! Allegedly he was held on $750 bail and "charged with counts of criminal mischief, graffiti and possessing a tool to make graffiti. He was also held on a warrant for shoplifting in Manhattan last August, court records show." When we talked to him a week before this incident, we asked if he'd ever been arrested—he told us, "Yeah. Never for art related crimes though. What have I gotten away with? That's the real question." What happens now? Our sources tell us that things should settle down "in a couple of weeks."

Photographer Jim Kiernan tipped us off to the arrest. He arrived at event at Broadway and Howard Street to meet up with Poster Boy around 7 p.m., but police had already arrived after spotting the Poster Boy's name on the flyer. Kiernan says, "There was an undercover cop on the block and they came and picked him up. As far as I know, he's still in Central Booking right now and waiting to get in front of a judge...It's the second time they've gotten him."

When we first heard of Poster Boy it was for his subway ad "mash-ups." More recently a video came out showing him work on a much larger scale, above ground, and promising it's a sign of what's to come. Earlier this week we tracked down the anonymous artist to ask him about his plans, ideas and why he does what he does.

PosterBoy has come out from the underground and is moving on to bigger canvases. The below video was shot by the Public Ad Campaign and put up on YouTube recently, showing the street artist taking down a billboard in Brooklyn. The following words were posted with it: "A sign of what's to come."

       

The subway ad mash-up artist has been hard at work underground. Here's some of the latest creations, including a shot of a poster he was still working on when someone snapped a picture.