Philly street artist Winston Tseng confirmed in a statement that he had created the “Kamala Harris in an Eagles helmet” poster that was seen at SEPTA bus stops around town last week, but denied knowledge of how they got there.
The poster, depicting a helmet-clad presidential candidate Kamala Harris, paired with a message that the U.S. Vice President was the “official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles,” was placed over digital billboards on bus shelters around town, creating a stir. The Eagles quickly weighed in that the ads were fake, the advertising agency confirmed the display was not scheduled with them, and the posters were removed. Philly police are currently investigating how the digital billboards were broken into and papered over.
Reached for comment over the weekend, Tseng released a statement (below), which claimed responsibility for the work, which he called “absurd” in an artistic sense, shared the work’s title — Political Endorsement — and explained what he’s trying to get at in his art.
My work uses brands and advertising to communicate societal issues. On one level, the poster is a parody of the ads we see along I-95 promoting the “official beer” or the “official accounting firm of the Philadelphia Eagles.” But the title of this work is Political Endorsement, and that’s the issue at hand. Why the f#&% do we care who Hulk Hogan or some corporation endorses? Yet here we are, and I think the strong reaction we’ve seen to this satirical endorsement is a reflection of our times.
There have not been charges filed related to thge breaking into the shelter ad placements.
It’s not an entirely new position for Tseng, whose work lives at the intersection of art, politics, religions and popular culture. In a July 2023 interview, he agreed to the writer’s proposed title of “satirical street artist,” saying:
In my work I like to use brands and advertising to communicate societal issues, hopefully bringing some unexpected attention to them in our daily lives.
The posters appeared a week before the presidential debate between Harris and former president Donald Trump, at the National Constitution Center Tuesday night.
