Before the Billboard Liberation Front spearheaded the modern artform of liberating billboards, it had its shadowy origins in the exploits of the ur-urban adventure group, The San Francisco Suicide Club. Personally, I never cared much about billboards, but keenly appreciated the daring involved, and remain in awe of the stone cold chutzpah of the late, great Irving Glick. Without Glick, I have doubts about how successful the movement would have been, and without the assurance of early successes, how long-lived and legendary it would be today.
But long-lived and legendary it is, witnessed most recently by the Taschen Press tribute, Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art — with a book release party Thursday February 17, 7 p.m. in City Lights Books. On hand will be art critics and artists and guys really good at climbing signs, such as the BLF’s own Jack Napier — or some avatar or image cloaked in the name.
Spray-paint the date on your wall calendar, if interested, and check out another of Taschen’s spectacular histories of our culture.
