Feeling Overwhelmed? You're Not Alone.

Artwork by Jim Houser. Photo by Luna Park.

Artwork by Jim Houser. Photo by Luna Park.

It's been fascinating see how the meaning of certain Art in Ad Places posters has changed. When we first received this piece from Jim Houser, it felt very personal, an image to meditate on privately, even if you found it in a public place. As for now... let's let Jim weigh in on that:

When RJ asked me to contribute, I felt like it was an interesting opportunity to share some work outdoors. I don’t often make things specifically designed to be shared on the street. I thought it would be good to use something that was simple and subdued, not as text heavy and bright as much of my work usually is. The idea behind the piece was originally meant for a skateboard graphic, but I felt it would be better served in this context. It’s meant to evoke the feeling of being overwhelmed, which is fitting in the climate we now find ourselves living our lives.

On another note, look closely in the photo above. You can catch a glimpse of Luna Park, the photographer who has been documenting every Art in Ad Places installation. Sometimes, these posters last weeks. Other times, just days. And they're all over New York City. That makes documentation almost as important as the physical installation. If you happen to come across an Art in Ad Places installation in person, we hope snap a photo and post it on Instagram or send it to us. We love seeing how each poster is holding up and how people are responding to them. With your permission, we might even reshare your pic.

Artwork by Jim Houser. Photo by RJ Rushmore.

Artwork by Jim Houser. Photo by RJ Rushmore.

"If my parents are deported..."

Erick by Michelle Angela Ortiz. Photo by Luna Park.

Erick by Michelle Angela Ortiz. Photo by Luna Park.

"If my parents are deported, I will have to raise my sister." - Erick, 13 years old

One of the beautiful things about public art is that it can give voice to the people we most need to hear from. We don't need to be sold the latest Hollywood movie. Right now, we need to hear from people like Erick about the real-life realities of US immigration policy.

We're honored to have Michelle Angela Ortiz participating in Art in Ad Places this week, and couldn't have asked for a more timely and poignant contribution. Michelle is one of Philadelphia's best muralists, and her practice focuses on the immigrant experience. If you're not already, be sure to follow her on Instagram.

"My portrait of Erick represents the many families affected by the threat of deportations," Michelle explained to us, "In this current anti-immigrant climate, it is necessary to represent the images and messages of immigrant communities fighting for a better life in this country."

Erick by Michelle Angela Ortiz. Photo by Luna Park.

Erick by Michelle Angela Ortiz. Photo by Luna Park.

Because We Need to Keep Shouting: #NODAPL

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

Every day brings another insane something from the Cheeto president. This week, we honestly struggled with what poster to install, because we have a few that would have commented on the issues of the week. In solidarity with the water protectors at Standing Rock and around the country, we decided on this work by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy.

Eric adds, "We're participating in this project to raise awareness and ultimately resistance against the current administration's development of orders and actions that lead to vile and inhumane environmental degradation, especially the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL. This image was humbly created in solidarity with the Water Protectors of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and all Natives and allies standing up on the front-line in resistance to the advancement of the DAPL."

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

On a personal level, it's an honor to be working with Eric and Monica, whose work we've admired from afar for years. Art in Ad Places has been an interesting process of reaching out a lot of complete strangers and asking them to take part in something a bit outside of the norm. It's been inspiring to see so many artists jump at the opportunity, and then use their space for such important messages.

On a more macro philosophical level, this #NODAPL poster is a great example of what Art in Ad Places is about. Advertising makes people act selfishly and consume more, neither of which are good for society as a whole, or the environment. In a perfect world, we wouldn't be so selfish, and if people weren't so selfish, we wouldn't even need a #NODAPL campaign. We all know, intuitively, that water is life, not Coca Cola. It's unrelenting advertising that wears us down until we think otherwise.

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

"DRAW OUT POISON" by Monica Canilao and Eric Loundy. Photo by Luna Park.

PS, shout out to the fantastic Decolonize This Place, whose sticker appeared in on this pay phone shortly after these photos were taken.

American History is...

"AMERICAN HISTORY" (2016) by Jeffrey Gibson. Wool, steel studs, glass beads, artificial sinew, metal jingles, acrylic yarn, nylon fringe, canvas. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Original photograph by Peter Mauney. Installation photogr…

"AMERICAN HISTORY" (2016) by Jeffrey Gibson. Wool, steel studs, glass beads, artificial sinew, metal jingles, acrylic yarn, nylon fringe, canvas. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Original photograph by Peter Mauney. Installation photograph by Luna Park.

"American history is longer, larger, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." - James Baldwin

Thanks to Jeffrey Gibson for contributing this especially powerful work to Art in Ad Places. If anyone out there is wondering whether we put thought into when we install each Art in Ad Places poster, this should be your answer.

Reflecting on this work, Gibson said "James Baldwin's words speak volumes to me everyday but at this time in particular they remind me that this time will pass. Be cautious but don't be afraid. Unite in peace and compassion in the face of fear and hate. Be well and kind to each other."

"AMERICAN HISTORY" (2016) by Jeffrey Gibson. Wool, steel studs, glass beads, artificial sinew, metal jingles, acrylic yarn, nylon fringe, canvas. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Original photograph by Peter Mauney. Installation photogr…

"AMERICAN HISTORY" (2016) by Jeffrey Gibson. Wool, steel studs, glass beads, artificial sinew, metal jingles, acrylic yarn, nylon fringe, canvas. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Original photograph by Peter Mauney. Installation photograph by RJ Rushmore.

Week two: Kristen Liu-Wong on the Bowery

"Still Life with Head" (2016) by Kristen Liu-Wong. Photo by Luna Park.

"Still Life with Head" (2016) by Kristen Liu-Wong. Photo by Luna Park.

Last week's launch really surprised us. We hoped people would like what we were up to, but we weren't expecting that Hyperallergic's article would do quite so well, or that we'd get a mention in Artforum. I guess people are excited.

Unfortunately, the company that manages the payphone we installed our first poster in also noticed. They are not as excited as the rest of us. Adam Wallacavage's poster is already gone, and it's been replaced with an ad. In the future, we won't be revealing the exact locations of our installations while they're still up, in the hope that they'll last a bit longer if we don't share that info.

This week's poster is from Kristen Liu-Wong, an artist out of LA who has shown at Swizz Beatz' No Commission fair and New Image Art in LA, among other places. We really love Kristen's work, and apparently other people do too, because we think an overzealous fan stole her poster off the street a few days after it went up! Luckily, the fantastic Jaime Rojo from Brooklyn Street Art was able to stop by just in time, and Kristen's poster can be found in BSA's Images of the Week.

Next week promises to be one of the strangest week's in our nation's history, to put it mildly. We'll be sure to reflect that in the next Art in Ad Places installation, so keep an eye out.

And remember, you can follow Art in Ad Places on Instagram or like us on Facebook.