Graffiti Art Exhibit
by Steve Matthias
Popski’s The Art of the Vandal The Street Art Masters Traveling Exhibition Aboard the Railyard Gallery Freight Train* Stationed at the Milwaukee Road Depot, Milwaukee, WI On view through September 4, 2024
Introduction to the Collection by Wakanda Smith-Shunka, curator, Street Art Masters:
The graffiti artist Popski (1949–) often returns to a style that he cannot resist, art vandalism. He violates our cultural system with his spray can, stencil and brush—sometimes his own hand—creating the edgy images that pull us through a portal to see what he sees. We become human again by viewing his art, stirring emotions of anger, confusion to some and humor, clarity, wonder to others.
There are no rules in art and with Popski, there are no laws either, making it important for him to be anonymous to avoid arrest. Quoting Rick Ruben, the hip hop record producer, “The world is only as free as it allows its artists to be.”
His earliest known work, Cowboys and Indians is a scene of an attack on an Indian village along the margins of a 3rd grade math paper. Across the top of the page you will note the teacher’s red pencil “NO DRAWINGS PLEASE!” The teacher, Ruth Smith, was born part native American and white, raised as an orphan in a boarding school in Arizona, she eventually became Popski’s parochial school teacher. When the math paper was found in a scrapbook, it caused him to reflect and to inquire further about Miss Smith. It was his turning point, sparking his passionate career as a rebellious street artist.
This small collection of pivotal works offers us lessons in observation; consider the giant flathead screw in Righty Tighty, the precise placement of the golden staples in Tarzan’s Jane, the craftsmanship and detail involved in Mustached Girl and the missing door handle in Sh*t or Shinola. Popski’s visual statements eye the meanings behind the obvious in politics, social justice, censorship, real wealth and values. He teaches a lesson in erasing a culture, makes an objection to objectifying women and battered wives. He is chased by state-sponsored censorship, poverty, migration, hidden histories, cultural myths, banned books, and environmental disasters.
Enjoy this jarring transcendent view into the tensions between artist and society in this small collection representing the vandal in all of us.
Artworks on Display, below
Note: This exhibition features artworks depicting violence, profanity and sexual themes and may be unsuitable for some audiences.
No photography was allowed.
Cowboys and Indians. (1956) crayon on lined math workbook newsprint paper, 8.5” X 11”. On loan, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Tarzan’s Jane Centerfold. (1966) mixed media on drywall, 18” X 48”. On loan, Playboy Mansion, Chicago, IL
Sh*t or Shine-ola. (1971) acrylic on metal, 32” x 52” standard restroom stall door. On loan, Homeless Drop-In Center Lounge, Oshkosh, WI
Roadkill Jim Crow. (1973) stencil, airbrush on asphalt, US Highway 61 odd shaped, cutout approx. 28 x 41 inches. On loan, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Red Wing, MN
Mark Twain Steamboat. 1976 Charcoal on Ceiling Tile, 24” x 48”. On loan, The Winkleman Collection, Winks Supper Club, St. Louis, MO
From the Is Nothing Sacred? Series 2000–2017 On permanent loan, anonymous collection
Righty Tighty. Rust-Oleum 2x Ultra American Accents Spray on polyester US flag 48” x 36”
The Mustached Girl with a Pearl Earring. India ink and oil on giclées canvas 17.52” x 15.55”
Chubby Crucified Christ. egg tempera on hardtack biscuit approx. 5” x 5”
*The Railyard Gallery Freight Train was established in 1974 as a contemporary art gallery to showcase the work of local graffiti artists. Donations to the exhibit and purchases in the gift shop are used to help the many families of artists run over by freight trains. Thank you for your support.
Steve Matthias lives in Sherwood.