Elevating the Underground

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


SVA Chelsea Gallery, New York

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