Underground Images
Since its origins in 1947, SVA has constantly displayed posters on New York subway platforms. Intended to publicize the College and attract students, they were created by some of the most renowned contemporary designers and illustrators, most of them faculty members. In 1987, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Design, deeming this compelling and successful ad campaign to be “SVA’s contribution to public art,” held a 40-year retrospective of the posters and titled it “Underground Images.”
Now in its eighth decade, this unbroken series of over 200 posters continues to remind subway commuters of the role that art plays in our daily lives. Indeed, the posters have become as inseparable from their urban environment as SVA itself is. They are also widely sought outside of New York where a curated selection of posters has traveled to some 50 venues in other states and foreign countries.
“Underground Images” was curated by former SVA Executive Vice President Anthony P. Rhodes. Most of its traveling exhibitions, listed below, were organized by MFA Illustration as Visual Essay faculty member Mirko Ilić, working in tandem with SVA Galleries.
The 49 artists in “Underground Images” include Peter Ahlberg, Gail Anderson, Marshall Arisman, Melinda Beck, Richard Borge, Chris Buzelli, Gene Case, Ivan Chermayeff, Marcos Chin, Paul Davis, Pablo Delcan, Sal De Vito, Stephen Doyle, Carol Fabricatore, Louise Fili, Audrey Flack, Nathan Fox, Bob Gill, Robert Giusti, Milton Glaser, Phil Hays, Steven Heller, Peter Hristoff, Angel Ibanez, Mirko Ilić, Dee Ito, Viktor Koen, Stephen Kroninger, Hyesu Lee, Marvin Mattelson, Clay Patrick McBride, James McMullan, Jerry Moriarty, Kevin O'Callaghan, Tony Palladino, Gary Panter, Edel Rodriguez, Julia Rothman, Jonathon Rosen, Stefan Sagmeister, David Sandlin, Paula Scher, Yuko Shimizu, Eve Sonneman, George Tscherny, Riccardo Vecchio, James Victore, Robert Weaver and Zipeng Zhu.
To view the full Subway Posters series, please visit the SVA Archives page.
Exhibition Tour:
Caserne Napoléon on Rue de Rivoli, Rue de Lobau and Place Baudoyer, Paris, France
November 25, 2024—January 3, 2025
August 29–October 14, 2023
SVA Flatiron Windows, New York
March 15–28, 2023
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, Alabama
August 11, 2020–January 3, 2021
Yeditepe University & Caddebostan Cultural Center, Istanbul, Turkey
February 18–March 8, 2020
National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin, Ireland
January 16–31, 2020
DesignUp, Bangalore, India
November 12–16, 2019
Cage Gallery at Edna Manley College, Kingston, Jamaica
October 9–November 11, 2019
Galerie ABF, Prague, Czech Republic
October 1–31, 2019
Universidad CAECE, Mar del Plata, Argentina
September 26–November 5, 2019
CHAVÓN | La Escuela de Diseño, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
March 16–April 26, 2019
Universidad ORT, Montevideo, Uruguay
February 26–March 22, 2019
HIT Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel
February 26–March 27, 2019
Pixel Show, Pro Magno, São Paulo, Brazil
November 10–12, 2018
MEDIUM Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
October 4–28, 2018
IED Istituto Europeo di Design, Italy
October 1–November 30, 2018
National Library of Moldova, Chișinău, Moldova
July 14–September 14, 2018
LA Design Festival, Los Angeles
June 9–10, 2018
designforum Wien, Vienna, Austria
March 13–April 22, 2018
De Affiche Galerij, The Hague, Holland
February 1–March 6, 2018
3sec Gallery, Breda, Holland
January 24–April 8, 2018
The Future, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
November 3–4, 2017
designforum Steiermark, Graz, Austria
October 27–November 11, 2017
La Escuela Artediez, Madrid, Spain
October, 2017
Bluecadet Gallery, Philadelphia
May 12–June 30, 2017
Design Indaba, Cape Town, South Africa
March 1–4, 2017
A38 Exhibition Space, Budapest, Hungary
November 15–26, 2016
Typopassage Micro Museum, Timisoara, Romania: (Video)
September 16–November 30, 2016
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland
June 10–24, 2016
Kiosko Gallery, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
March 21–29, 2016
Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland
March 2–April 8, 2016
Rosefsky Art Gallery, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York
February 12–March 11, 2016
James Barry Exhibition Centre, Cork, Ireland
December 1, 2015–January 22, 2016
Museo San Francisco, La Paz, Bolivia
November 16–21, 2015
Lisbon, Portugal
November 13–December 20, 2015
Instituto Tom Jobim, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 5–December 6, 2015
KDJ convention center, Gwangju, Korea
October 19–23, 2015
AIGA Design Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana
October 8–10, 2015
Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador
September 23–October 23, 2015
New Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
May 22–June 28, 2015
The University of Texas at Arlington, Max W. Sullivan Gallery
April 6–27, 2015
KCDF Gallery, Seoul
April 1–21, 2015
International Poster Competition, Skopje, Macedonia
December 7–20, 2014
Sangmyug University, Seoul, South Korea
November 7–13, 2014
MUIP Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
October 16–November 14, 2014
Golden Bee Moscow International Biennial of Graphic Design
October 7–12, 2014
Villa Méditerranée, Marseille, France: Co-presented by Alliance française des designers (AFD/French Designers Alliance), Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Marseille (CCI), Moneydesign and Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
July 15–20, 2014
Gallery Izidor Krsnjavi, School of Applied Arts and Design, Zagreb, Croatia: Co-presented by HDD and UBU in conjunction with Dan-D (D-Day)
May 26–June 9, 2014
HOW Design Live, Boston
May 12–16, 2014
Atelier Dado Gallery, National Museum of Montenegro, Cetinje
April 26–May 16, 2014
Central Academy of Fine Art, Beijing, China
April 12–May 3, 2014
Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade, Serbia
April 4–22, 2014
Academy of Fine Arts, Sarajevo: Co-presented by Students Organizing Sarajevo (SOS) Design Festival
October 9–23, 2013
National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia: Co-presented by the Emzin Institute of Creative Production
June 4–July 4, 2013
"SVA Subway Posters: A Half Century of Iconic Graphic Design": Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan
November 4–9, 2006