From Glaser to Scher, see SVA’s iconic subway posters together for first time

Since 1947, 93 artists have been invited to create posters for the NYC transit stations by the School of Visual Arts. Often encouraging commuters to consider a creative career with the college, these ads “stirred the imaginations of New Yorkers and the countless aspiring and practising artists who visit the city each year,” as SVA president David Rhodes puts it. This new exhibition gathers the full collection of Underground Images together for the very first time.

Over 200 posters have been produced over the years from creatives across the fields of typography, graphic design, fine art and illustration. Some of the artists behind an SVA poster include Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, Marshall Arisman, Gail Anderson and Yuko Shimizu. The new exhibition will present the full history of Underground Images, plus multimedia installations, progress sketches and a recreated NYC subway platform.

Underground Images has been around for almost as long as the School of Visual Arts itself. Shortly after its inception, known then as the Cartoonists & Illustrators School, SVA started commissioning faculty members, kicking off an almost 75-year-old marketing campaign. The posters have become so ubiquitous that anyone travelling on the NYC transit system has likely seen at least one of the artworks.

The posters ranged in theme and often captured the feeling of the period in which they were created, from activist messages to varied responses to an ongoing prompt: “Art is…”. A new poster debuting later this year will pay homage to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

In 2006, SVA began a travelling iteration of Underground Images taking the posters to sites across the globe. “Exhibiting them all over the world has been an adventure, but we are thrilled to present this collection and its fascinating history in the place where it all began,” says David. Underground Images will be on show from 29 August to 14 October at SVA Chelsea Gallery in New York.