G. James Daichendt. Robbie Conal: Streetwise: 35 Years of Politically Charged Guerrilla Art. Schiffer, 2020.

Reprinted from the original review.

Few forms of public discourse have endured as effectively as political caricature. Political cartoonists can express sentiment and opinion without uttering a syllable, using humor, observational skills, deep knowledge of the subject matter, and skillful craft. The political cartoon, when done well, lands its punch with a blunt efficiency that can influence the direction of a debate. For more than four decades, Robbie Conal has built a reputation by searing some of the most mendacious figures in politics, finance, media, and the celebrity-industrial complex, wheat-pasting his visually scathing posters on the street in the manner of advertisers’ wild-posting campaigns.

With succinct texts, crisp slogans, and curt nicknames, Conal pulls back the veil of public image-making and exposes what he regards as the less flattering truths beneath. He strips away the carefully maintained façade and drops it onto the street for public inspection. His depictions cannot easily be dismissed as those of a partisan sycophant; his subjects have ranged across a spectrum of personalities from various points on the political and cultural landscape. Posted in multiples like political advertisements, his portraits force the accidental viewer on the street to grapple with the grotesque, look below the surface of a public persona, and confront contradictions, hypocrisies, ambitions, and self-interest that often remain hidden from view. Like an X-ray, the work attempts to reveal what lies beneath the polished exterior rather than what is presented for public consumption.

What has consistently distinguished Conal’s practice is his understanding of the street as a communications platform. Long before social media became a primary arena for political commentary, Conal was placing dissent directly into public space. His posters appeared on walls, utility boxes, vacant storefronts, and neighborhood corners, meeting viewers where they already were. Equal parts caricature, editorial commentary, and public intervention, the works use the city itself as a distribution network.

In this book, author G. James Daichendt, EdD, who has previously written about Kenny Scharf and Shepard Fairey and authored The Urban Canvas: Street Art Around the World, examines, documents, and contextualizes Conal’s oeuvre. A street artist himself, among many other pursuits, Daichendt describes Conal as “an LA fixture and someone who is universally respected for the passion and vitality that he has brought to his work as an artist and teacher for several decades.”

Text: Steven P. Harrington & Jaime Rojo     Photos: Diana Paun

Title: Robbie Conal: Streetwise: 35 Years of Politically Charged Guerrilla Art.
Published: Schiffer Publishing, 2020
Author: G. James Daichendt.
Language: English

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