Just in time for the new school year, the latest trio of posters in the College’s Subway Series has hit the platforms, bringing BFA Illustration faculty member Edel Rodriguez’s work to riders around New York City. Rodriguez’s illustrations are often in wide circulation, gracing covers and pages of magazines from Time to Der Spiegel. Usually politically charged and, as such, at times contentious (see: President Trump in a Klan hood), Rodriguez’s work is always bold, visually as well as editorially.

The Subway Series, started in the mid-1950s, invites faculty members—all practicing professionals—to showcase their talents, reach new audiences, and promote SVA with a series of posters designed specifically for the city’s subway system. The resulting work over the decades has been enthusiastic, ingenious and completely varied, and has featured artists Louise Fili, Gail Anderson, Ivan Chermayeff and Milton Glaser, among many others. SVA Executive Vice President Anthony P. Rhodes has served as creative director for the posters since 2007.

Deeply affected and upset by the current political climate and administration, Rodriguez’s passion comes through in his SVA commission, an urgent, brightly-colored call to action but without agenda. “That’s part of why I wanted to do this series of posters—because there’s nothing more important to me than freedom,” he says at the end of the video, below, describing the project. I spoke with Rodriguez further about his own motivations and the resulting work.

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