“The POPaganda”

ofRon English

“The Godfather of Street Art”

Ron English“Ron English is known as "The Godfather of Street Art". One of the most prolific and recognisable artists living, he is credited with graffiti's transition from a sub-cultural form of popular expression to the decorative, narrative murals seen today.

Ron's innovations is "culture jamming", the act of modifying or hijacking advertising billboards.

Ron English coined the term “POPaganda” to describe his signature mash-up of high and low cultural touchstones, from superhero mythology to totems of art history, populated with his vast and constantly growing arsenal of original characters. His Abraham Obama, the fusion of America's 16th and 44th Presidents, an image widely discussed in the media as directly impacting the 2008 election.

He has provided LP artwork for rockers Slash and The Dandy Warhols, plus designed a vinyl toy line Dum English with R ‘n’ B singer Chris Brown. In 2012 Ron English appeared as himself on The Simpsons cartoon, as Bart's graffiti mentor in the episode Exit Through the Kwik-E Mart.”

Ron English - Lazarides Exhibitions

Ron EnglishRON ENGLISH(1959 - )Biography An American contemporary art artist.Ron English (born 1959) is an American contemporary art artist who explores popular brand imagery and advertising. His artist signature style employs a mash-up of high and low cultural touchstones, including comic superhero mythology and totems of art history, artist to create a visual language of evolution. He is also widely considered a seminal figure in the advancement of contemporary art from traditional wild-style lettering and into clever statement and masterful contemporary art.

Work and inspiration: The artist was considered one of the Father’s of Modern Contemporary Art.

Culture jamming is one contemporary art aspect of his work, involving 'liberating' commercial billboards with his own art messages. Frequent targets of his work include Joe Camel, McDonald's, and Mickey Mouse. Ron English can be considered the "celebrated prankster father of dollar-pop", who wrangles carefully created corporate, and are used against the very corporation they are meant to represent. Contemporary art artist Ron English is considered one of the fathers of modern street artist and has initiated and participated in illegal public art campaigns since the early eighties.

Ron English – Biography

Ron EnglishRon English is what many people call a subvertiser—through his art he breaks down

iconic images from pop culture and advertisements, changing  the  message into something entirely different – usually the opposite of what was originally intended.  As a result, most of his art makes a satirical statement, commonly along the lines of political, religious, or consumerist—but no matter what the message may be, the art stands alone as something incredible.

The majority of his work shows up overnight on billboards—illegally—like the now famous

“Camel Kid” ads (a  few  examples  on  the  next  slide)  featuring a young Joe Camel

offering cigarettes to kids, or the McDonald’s ads featuring an overweight Ronald McDonald and some not-quite-subtle comparisons to idol worship.

But it’s with Ron English’s oil paintings that he really brings to life a unique mash-up between the classic and the modern. Sometimes the message is obvious; sometimes it’s a little more open to interpretation.

10 Pop Culture Versions Of Famous Paintings

Camel Kid ‘Illegal’ Billboards

The Starry Night is one of the most famous paintings by Vincent van Gogh. It shows a stylized version of the town of Saint-Remy as seen from the window of the mental hospital where van Gogh was living at the time, in 1889.According to Ron English, what he saw out of his window was a sea of advertisements, and with that he made his own version, entitled McStarry.

Who is Vincent Van Gogh?

McStarry

The Virgin of the Lilies is a painting by William Bouguereau from 1899. It shows a peaceful Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, who even as a child has assumed a pose of authority with his outstretched arms. The halos around their heads were typical of Catholic art from that time period.As another statement on pop culture gods, English’s version puts the well-known KISS face paint over the two subjects, effectively turning Mary into Gene Simmons and Jesus into Paul Stanley.

Who is William Bouguereau?

Virgin of the Lilies

In 1863, a daguerreotype, a form of print made on a copper plate, was created of Abraham Lincoln. This single image is where most of our modern perception of Abraham Lincoln comes from.In 2008, Ron English created Abraham Obama, a surprisingly subtle amalgamation of the faces of both presidents. This has since become one of his most famous political images.

Who is Abraham Lincoln? / Who is Barrack Obama?

Abraham Lincoln

After the village of Guernica was bombed in 1937, Pablo Picasso created this massive oil painting, entitled Guernica, in an attempt to capture the suffering of the villagers. It has since become one of his most popular pieces and is often held up as a symbol for anti-war efforts.

Ron English’s version features grade-school children in the same horrific poses as the original, surrounded by carousel animals while a young boy in the centre drops bombs from a toy airplane. It’s entitled Guernica Go-Round.He also created the one on the next slide, which features Mickey Mouse dropping bombs from the plane.

Who is Pablo Picasso?

Guernica

Guernica Aerial View

The Luncheon On The Grass, or Le dejeuner sur l’herbe in French, was painted by Edouard Manet. The original itself was shocking at the time for featuring a woman who is not only nude, but nude despite the two men she’s with, who are fully clothed. Even more unusual is the way the two men seem to be holding a conversation and ignoring the woman completely.

The Ron English version sort of speaks for itself. It’s the same painting, but the figures are replaced with Peanuts characters Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Sally. The roles are also reversed—Charlie Brown is the nude, while Lucy and Sally are clothed.

Who is Edouard Manet?

Le dejeuner sur l’herbe

In 1964, Rene Magritte painted the surrealist The Son of Man, which has a man in a suit and a bowler hat, with an apple in front of his face. The artist described the painting as an example of how everything that can be seen is actually hiding something else.In Stereo Magritte, Ron English recreated the man and the apple, but placed them beside another subject—a skeleton wearing the same clothes as the man, with a spoiled apple core in front of his face, probably signifying life and death.

Who is Rene Magritte?

The Son of Man

Edvard Munch’s The Scream is probably the most recognizable painting in the world. There are actually four versions of The Scream, which were done at the end of the 19th century.Ron English’s version, Harmonic Scream, is quite a bit different. In keeping with his usual style, the figures in the painting are most likely members of a band.

Who is Edvard Munch?

The Scream

From 1893 to 1900, Claude Monet created a series of paintings that focused on a bridge over a small pond on his property. This series contains some of the most famous pieces of the Impressionist period.The version by Ron English uses noticeably darker colours and features the “Bunny Rabbit”, a creepy figure that shows up in a lot of other Ron English paintings as well. While the background and foreground are painted in the style of Monet, the Rabbit is a lot crisper and more modern looking.

Who was Claude Monet?

Bridge over a Pond of Lilies

The Last Supper is one of the most iconic paintings in the world, depicting Jesus Christ sitting down for his final meal with his twelve disciples. It was painted in the late 1400 s by ′Leonardo da Vinci.

According to Ron English, with different times come different gods, and so we get his take, Super Supper. The parallels are obvious, and it makes an incredible visual.

There is also another version that English has painted. Go to the next slide.

Who is Leonardo Da Vinci?

The Last Supper

Super Supper

References and Sources

10 Pop Culture Versions Of Famous Paintings

Ron English

Ron English – Biography

Ron English – The Godfather of Street Art

Welcome to Popaganda – The online home of Ron English

assembled by: Angela Ballas