POPAGANDA: THE ART AND SUBVERSION OF RON ENGLISH Pedro Carvajal

Documentary Video 80:00 2004 Chicago Premiere

A hilarious, engaging film about the culture-jamming and billboard-liberation antics of painter Ron English. The modern day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue, Ron paints, perverts, infiltrates, reinvents and satirizes modern culture on canvas, in songs, and directly on hundreds of pirated billboards. Shot entirely guerilla-style, the film chronicles the evolution of an artist who offers an alternative universe where nothing is sacred, everything is subverted and there’s always room for a little good-natured fun.

“Advertising agencies are mercenaries, it’s about profit. Is the product good for the environment? Society? The individual consumer? We employ the same techniques and pirate the same spaces as the advertisers, but to different ends. Our efforts are a pure expression of free speech. I consider my work content. Think of TV. You have to endure a few commercials, sure, but that’s not why you watch. You watch for the content. I’m creating the same concept with billboards.” -Ron English

PURCHASE TICKET-Sat. 8/21 1:45 PM

PURCHASE TICKET-Tues. 8/24 7:15 PM