FINE PRINT: Carl Pope at Crane Arts Building and other locations

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FINE PRINT: Carl Pope at Crane Arts Building and other locations

POSTED: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 3:38 PM

Carl Pope

A Celebration of Blackness, 2006, letterpress poster

Bringing you more Philagrafika 2010 coverage.

Since first gaining international recognition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in '94, Carl Pope has used his art to examine pressing social issues. Incorporating marketing slogans, literary texts, famous quotations and other text, he constructs eye-catching letterpress broadsides and posters. Previous examples of his large-scale work includes "The Bad Air Smells of Roses" and "A Celebration of Blackness," both of which examine the modern conception of "blackness." In addition to viewing art as an impetus for social change, Pope believes art plays a central role in creating communities.

Developing his projects in relation to specific locations, he will be collaborating with graphic designer Mari Hulick, Mural Arts ARTWORKS, and 23 small businesses in North Central Philadelphia for Philagrafika. With these collaborators, Pope will be constructing billboards for the businesses to encourage economic prosperity and community visibility. You can find the exact locations of each here. He is also exhibiting at the Crane Arts Building (1400 N. American St., 215-232-3203).

City Paper: What are your artistic influences?

Carl Pope: My biggest influence without a doubt is my high school photography teacher. My high school photography teacher, Donna Hostettler, continues to be a major influence in my work. She believes that art is an effective tool for individual and collective transformation. Her primary example was how photojournalism changed popular opinion about the Vietnam War. It was the horrific images mediated on the television and through the print media that shifted general public's thoughts and feelings about the war.

City Paper: How did you come up with the idea to use marketing slogans, literary quotations, etc in your work?

CP: I love text, fonts and type. I found myself becoming more interested in writing and began producing what I call "writing projects," where the text and writing was a very prominent aspect of the work. When I made the trophy collection The Greatest Hits of the New York City Police Department for the "Black Male" exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1994, I began to glimpse the possibilities of playing with narrative structure through the collection of various kinds of phrases, quotes, titles, slogans, quips, recipes, etc.

The recent billboards campaigns I am doing are a logical leap from the realizations gleaned from my poster work.

City Paper: What commentary on language and social interaction do you hope to portray in your work?

CP: I find that individuals and groups tend to read things informed or inspired by past readings in the continuation of whatever narratives they endorse. As a visual artist, how can I inspire viewers to experience epiphany in their reading of text and images on their own terms or intervene in the development of certain kinds of narrative trajectories? With the poster installation, "The Bad Air," I am experimenting with a narrative structure for viewers to read through or enter "architecturally." I am working to create meaningful and engaging narrative/visual constructions that match the ways we "read" the world around us. Yes, objects are also read as text especially in our information age. The various ways in which we look are the ways in which we read. I use language in my artistic practice that considers the ways we read when we drive, shop or put something or someone under surveillance.

City Paper: Can you describe your exhibit for the Philagrafika festival?

CP: I have more than one exhibit for the festival. I am showing two separate installations of the poster installation, "The Bad Air Smelled of Roses," at Crane Arts ... and in the gallery exhibition of "The Wall: Remixed" at Mural Arts.

My largest contribution to Philagrafika festival is a collaborative public art project called "The Wall Remixed: The North Philadelphia Small Business Advertising Campaign" (NPSBAC), which is collaboration with graphic designer Mari Hulick. It is a part of a larger project called "The Wall: Remixed" by Homer Jackson. Mari Hulick and I enrolled 23 small businesses and non-profit organizations to participate in a free billboard campaign to celebrate the North Central Philadelphia community and to encourage economic opportunities for ... participating businesses.

Homer Jackson's "The Wall: Remixed" project heightens community awareness of the social "safety net " of business and organizations in the North Central Philadelphia area. Mari Hulick and I collaborated with the youth involved the Mural Arts ARTWORKS educational outreach program and the participating businesses to create a series of billboards to make this safety net visible to the North Philly community. Mari and I found it very important to involve the children's drawing in the making of the communal safety net. That is why the drawings are so visible in the billboard designs.

City Paper: How do you feel art contributes to the public sphere?

CP: In the public sphere, a thing does not exist if it is not represented physically in public space. There are many things about our culture that are no longer in the public sphere in the real sense. They exist as concepts in the collective imagination or in the virtual space of the World Wide Web. Public art has the potential to introduce/reintroduce creative innovations, strategies and trends into mainstream culture. My billboards introduce/reintroduce the presence and the potential of the individual back into the public sphere. In my billboards, I help provide the billboard space to individuals who do not have normal access to it. The billboard space becomes a microphone of sorts in which people can express themselves.

In the past, quotes were the primary means of expression. With (NPSBAC), Mari and I are facilitating the billboard space as a canvas for children and businesses to visualize, map and broadcast the resources in their community.

Since gaining international recognition in "Black Male" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Carl Pope has used his art to examine pressing social issues. Incorporating marketing slogans, literary texts, famous quotations, and other text, he constructs eye-catching letter-press broadsides and posters. Previous examples of his large-scale work includes "The Bad Air Smells of Roses" and "A Celebration of Blackness," both of which examine the modern conception of 'Blackness.' In addition to viewing art as an impetus for social change, Pope believes art plays a central role in creating communities. Developing his projects in relation to specific locations, he will be collaborating with graphic designer Mari Hulick, Mural Arts ARTWORKS, and 23 small businesses in North Central Philadelphia for the Philagrafika festival. With these collaborators, Pope will be constructing billboards for the businesses to encourage economic prosperity and community visibility.

create social change and community.

1. What are your artistic influences?

My biggest influence without a doubt is my high school photography teacher. My high school photography teacher, Donna Hostettler, continues to be a major influence in my work. She believes that art is an effective tool for individual and collective transformation. Her primary example was how photojournalism changed popular opinion about the Vietnam War. "It was the horrific images mediated on the television and through the print media that shifted general public's thoughts and feelings about the war.

Donna's influence on my visual/critical thinking skills have left an indelible mark on me. I am still working out some of the concepts I was introduced to in high school. My work in public art is an outgrowth of Donna Hostettler's influence on the subject matter and strategies in my work. She also encouraged my interests and pursuits in advertising and commercial work.

Because I am a project-based artist without a signature style, my influences are directly linked to the project I am working on at the time. My experience as a commercial photographer working with graphic artists is a major influence behind the work I am showing in the festival.

2. How did you come up with the idea to use marketing slogans, literary

quotations, etc in your work?

I have always used text, type and narrative in my photographic, advertising and multi-media installation work. I love text, fonts and type. I found myself becoming more interested in writing and began producing what I call "writing projects" where the text and writing was a very prominent aspect of the work. When I made the trophy collection "The Greatest Hits of the New York City Police Department" for the "Black Male" exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1994, I began to glimpse the possibilities of playing with narrative structure through the collection of various kinds of phrases, quotes, titles, slogans, quips, recipes ect.

When I was introduced to printing letterpress broadsides in 2004, I felt that I found the perfect medium in which to write/construct/build a graphic essay. While working on the letterpress poster installation "The Bad Air Smelled of Roses" (2005 â Present), I realized that letterpress broadsides is the first form of public advertising and that I had come full circle and returned to advertising and mediated forms in a totally fresh way. The recent billboards campaigns I am doing are a logical leap from the realizations gleaned from my poster work.

3. What commentary on language and social interaction do you want to

portray in your work?

I find that individuals and groups tend to read things informed or inspired by past readings in the continuation of whatever narratives they endorse, entertain or feel compelled by.... As a visual artist how can I inspire viewers to experience epiphany in their reading of text and images on their own terms or intervene in the development of certain kinds of narrative trajectories? With the poster installation, "The Bad Air...", I am experimenting with a narrative structure for viewers to read through or enter "architecturally". I am working to create meaningful and engaging narrative/visual constructions that match the ways we "read" the world around us. Yes, objects are also read as text especially in our information age. The various ways in which we look are the ways in which we read. I use language in my artistic practice that considers the ways we read when we drive, shop or put something or someone under surveillance.

I am interested in the kind of reading and writing that exists beyond the way we relate to books.

4. Can you describe your exhibit for the Philagrafika festival?

I have more than one exhibit for the festival. I am showing two separate installations of the poster installation, "The Bad Air Smelled of Roses" at Crane Arts in the Medium Resistance exhibition and in the gallery exhibition of "The Wall: Remixed" at Mural Arts.

My largest contribution to Philagrafika festival is a collaborative public art project called, "The Wall Remixed: The North Philadelphia Small Business Advertising Campaign" (NPSBAC) which is collaboration with graphic designer Mari Hulick. It is a part of a larger project called "The Wall: Remixed" by Homer Jackson. Mari Hulick and I enrolled 23 small businesses and non profit organizations to participate in a free billboard campaign to celebrate the North Central Philadelphia community and to encourage economic opportunities for the following participating businesses:

Broad Street Billiards

Hijaaz Barbershop

Malabus Men's Clothing Boutique

The Philadelphia Doll Museum

N.E.T Community Development Corparation

Murphy Family Auto Repair

Diallo Fashions

Dr. Jeffery Sandler, Foot Specialist

Patterson's Palace

TreeHouse Books

Sun Pay Beauty Supply

Webb's Department Store

Leo's Apparel

HACE Community Development Corporation

Raices Culturales Latino Americanas

Community Legal Services

Women's Christian Alliance

Sultan Jihad Ahmad Community Foundation Center

Simply Elite Spa

Don's Doo Shop

The Village of Arts and Humanities

Esperanza Health Center

Taller Puertorriqueno

Homer Jackson's "The Wall: Remized" project heightens community awareness of the social "safety net " of business and organizations in the North Central Philadelphia area. Mari Hulick and I collaborated with the youth involved the Mural Arts ARTWORKS educational outreach program and the participating businesses to create a series of billboards to make this safety net visible to the North Philly community. Mari and I found it very important to involve the children's drawing in the making of the communal safety net. That is why the drawings are so visible in the billboard designs.

5. How do you feel art contributes to the public sphere?

In the public sphere, a thing does not exist if it is not represented physically in public space. There are many things about our culture that are no longer in the public sphere in the real sense. They exist as concepts in the collective imagination or in the virtual space of the world wide web. Public art has the potential to introduce/reintroduce creative innovations, strategies and trends into mainstream culture. My billboards introduce/reintroduce the presence and the potential of the individual back into the public sphere. In my billboards, I help provide the billboard space to individuals who do not have normal access to it. The billboard space becomes a microphone of sorts in which people can express themselves.

Brian Campbell

Posted 2010-03-19 12:22:12

The Wall Remixed: The North Philadelphia Small Business Advertising Campaign opens Thursday, March 18th and runs through Friday, April 30th. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 25th from 5:30-7:30PM at the Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center, 1729 Mount Vernon Street in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia. More information about the exhibition and the reception can be found on the Mural Arts Program's website or by contacting Brian Campbell at 215.685.0750.

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