The next big subway art book is on its way out. Poster Boy: The War of Artis a collection of Poster Boy’s best works. There aren’t too many details available yet, but the following description is floating around:

His cut and slash mash-ups of subway platform billboards only exist in New York City, but Poster Boy’s artful and funny appropriations of advertising have gotten him attention the world over. The New York Times dubbed him an “anti-consumerist Zorro with a razor blade, a sense of humor and a talent for collage”; the Guardian UK said of his work, it “is witty, web-savvy and economical . . . and the only materials it requires are chutzpah, imagination and a 50 cent blade.”

Poster Boy tweaks corporate copy, replacing it with incisive and playful puns and turns of phrase rich with innuendo and political punch. Beautiful models turn ghastly and iconic spokespeople become the mouthpieces for Poster Boy’s ideas. Poster Boy: The War of Art collects his best work yet.

The book is set for release on March 2nd, 2010, but you can preorder it on Amazon. I did as soon as I found out about it. Check back in March for a review!

How exactly does one taint a pew? Many filthy visuals come to mind. How would you?

Thanks to Halston for the photo!

© Copyright Kevin Carroll.  Used with permission.

Now, I know what you are thinking. But before you condemn me to fiery perdition, let me say that I have decided to post this because it will be seen by more people on here. If you have seen Gene or Jimmy please call one of the numbers on the poster. Taken at the Franklin Avenue 2 3 4 5 train station in Brooklyn.

This area has NOT been baited with hipstericide, unfortunately. Photo by me at the Bedford L.

If the Dharma Initiative had lasted a bit longer on the island from ABC’s Lost, perhaps they would have built a transportation system like this one. This subway map, made by John Cabrera, features many of the key locations and events from seasons one through five. If you are a huge Lost fan like myself, you probably already know about the season premiere this Tuesday on ABC. If you are not a huge Lost fan, this is for you.

What do Times Square, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station and a homeless man in an MTA shirt rolling around the floor of a subway car holding a chicken have in common? ONLY. IN. NEW. YORK.

From The Gothamist’s interview with Kylie of 2PxNaPpod who documented this unusual scene:

We boarded the 6 train at 33rd street around 7pm last night, and noticed a large scarcity of passengers in one section of the train. Upon looking down, it I saw first a live chicken, then noticed it was wrapped in the loving arms of an apparent homeless man wearing at MTA shirt.

He kept picking up the chicken, holding it over his head, kissing it, hugging it, and more inappropriate things that I will refrain from detailing. In the simple words of my fellow passenger, Charlotte, “That is straight-up chicken abuse.”

No one on the train was shy about photographing this man, as he was seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. It was truly an only-in-New-York event, a phrase that was uttered several times throughout the short ride.

In the words of evening news anchor Ernie Anastos: Keep fuckin’ that chicken.

Bob Noorda, one of the designers credited for bringing a Modernist, uniform style to the New York City subway system, is dead at 82.

From The New York Times’ obituary:

Mr. Noorda’s best-known work in the United States was for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which in 1966 commissioned his firm, Unimark International, to modernize and unify the look of the subway system’s signs. The firm had been recommended by Mildred Constantine, an influential design curator at the Museum of Modern Art.

Noorda’s designs hold up well, even 40 years after their inception.  They have become icons of New York’s urban scene and through them he is survived.

From Poster Boy's Flickr, posted just before his first arrest

Well-known subway artist, Poster Boy, was arrested again on Friday after a cop caught him at the Jefferson Street L train station cutting the heads off of people in an ad. His arrest comes just as he was about to finish his sentence of 210 hours of community service from a previous arrest about one year ago. A spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney said, “We plan on asking the judge to throw out the plea deal and sentence [him] to jail.”

According to the NY Post’s sources, Poster Boy, “told the cop he should get a break because it was the first time he did it — but admitted he was the infamous Poster Boy after the officer ran his name through a computer.”

The Subway Art Blog has recently spotted other stations along the L in Bushwick with several ads missing heads. These decapitations may have to do with a larger project Poster Boy had in store.

As it is part of my daily commute, I can tell you that this is what I am thinking to myself about 90% of the time while I’m waiting for the F train.  The other 10% I’m think about how it’s REALLY fuckin’ late. Thanks to SNAP for the photo!