This Sunday night, March 4, the 501st episode of The Simpsons will feature four superstars of American street art: Kenny Scharf, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, and Robbie Conal.
Kenny Scharf came up in the East Village art scene in the 1980’s and covered the walls at last year’s amazing “Art in the Streets” show in L.A.; Ron English hacks popular brand images (think “Super Size Me” posters and 2008’s groovy “Abraham Obama“), and favors billboards; Shepard Fairey is…well, Shepard Fairey; and Robbie Conal is the genre’s outlaw godfather — a whip-smart, wisecracking political satirist who’s been wheat-pasting posters of white-collar bad guys (remember CONTRA DICTION and Cheney as the Energizer bunny?) since before most of today’s street artists were zygotes.
Conal says: “I consider it one of the highest honors in the land to be ‘Simpsonized.’ To me it’s the American equivalent of being knighted by the Queen of England.”
The episode, titled “Exit Through the Kwik-E Mart” (get it?) runs at 8PM ET/PT on FOX. The four artists will be guest-voicing themselves.
Previously:
Gritty guerrilla poster artist Robbie Conal’s new book features… cute animals!?
Shepard Fairey pleads guilty over “Hope” court case