Subvertising: The Piracy of Outdoor Advertising

by Hogre

Hogre is London’s most prolific subvertiser – Subvertising showcases his work on bus stops and billboards over the last two years. As well as gathering together his staggering output, Subvertising details his thoughts on anarchism, artistic resistance and the lines between art
and crime:

“It’s important in a political struggle to not provide an identity, not just for legal reasons, but because every new identity, every new style, every rebel attitude is easy to reproduce for the market, and then easy to be sold. That’s also why I use different styles, why I experiment with different mediums, to avoid generating images that are all the same. Subvertising works better if you can’t tell straight away if it is subvertising or not. It has to be illegal, of course, but it also has to be sneaky....”

Genres: Activism

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Hogre is London’s most prolific subvertiser.

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hogre acts in the spirit off the Billboard Liberation Front – subvertising’s ancestors whose brilliant attacks on the corporatisation of the mental environment spawned new forms of street art. For many, subvertising parodies existing advertising, exposing the truth of the product behind message of the ad. One of the most compelling critiques of this form of subvertising is that it continues to keep the product in the mind’s eye.

Much as I like the parody ads (and find them a great teaching device) I prefer Hogre’s work because much of it steps beyond this weakness. This collection of work s/he/they have done over recent years, mainly London focussed, is a great introduction to this challenging, subversive, witty and inspiring street artist/interventionist.