I’m a transplanted hick who is confused by most modern art. That’s why I look to the pop art pranksters at Stereo Hell to shed some satirical light on the scene. Previously, SH fake plastered New York City with faux American Apparel ads, and moved gambling Wall Street firms to the Las Vegas strip. Now, they’ve designed six fake posters for outlandish art exhibits at several City museums. The project is a response to what Imp at SH calls the “vulgar takeover” of art and venues by certain brands, particularly Louis Vuitton. Above is SH’s most vulgar response: an installation at the Guggenheim titled “Sauce Please.”
Now that the fake American Apparel ad campaign has become a real AA ad, the SH design collective picks its next target: the Wall Street Meltdown. And, much like a first year iBanker, the project is ambitious as hell. Their cheeky proposal is to relocate America’s investment banks into the casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard. Using the same two-color technique as the fake AA ads, the artist has playfully reimagined many of The Strip’s iconic signs. As an added element, the designs have been created on top of famous pop art (the above layout sits on Basquiat’s Untitled, and its well-known quote.). Imp from Stereo Hell explains: “The banks didn’t “invest” but gambled. Plus, they showed off. Everything looked under control and glamorous, like under the Las Vegas glittering neon…” Artwork was used as backgrounds because “that’s what art became under the flood of Wall Street money…ultra expensive, ultra-meaningless background.” Jump to view the famous Vegas Stratosphere transformed into the “Paulson” thrill ride. And visit Stereo Hell to see all 10 detailed frames of the entertaining project.
Last night, Stereo Hell exclusively shared with ANIMAL this nifty video presentation (click the red arrow) revealing that all of the guerrilla AA posters were in fact not physical posters, but expertly Photoshopped fakes (unlike the SH imposter’s shoddy work). We were clued into this twist months ago, but we promised to keep mum until the series was finished. And, the Stereo Hellers tell us the video marks the end of this very entertaining erotic art/ad project. “I already feel sad thinking about walking in Soho and not having to take pics of billboards,” says SH’s Imp. But they’re looking forward to beginning work on the next idea. As are we.
Screen cap is of the very first guerrilla American Apparel poster from November 2007, which was Photoshopped over ad boards at West Broadway & Grand St.
This latest piece in the nearly year-old Stereo Hell guerrilla marketing project is the most playful and mind-altering yet. The artist has redrawn the scene from a recent poster placement on the front door of a soon-to-open American Apparel outlet, and then created a hilarious crime scene. The two cops standing on their heads are a recreation of Maurizio Cattelan’s goofy 2002 sculpture “Frank & Jamie.” Cattelan is probably most famous for his controversial piece “La Nona Ora,” depicting Pope John Paul II being struck be a meteorite (which sold at Christie’s for $3 million). Add in the requisite fake naked babe mocking/celebrating the upside-down coppers, and, well, I honestly don’t know WHAT the hell you end up with. But it’s fucking fun!
Carroll Street subway station. (Photo: Stereo Hell)
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