Ron English is coming to Richmond next month as part of the Richmond Mural Project, and if you know anything about him, you know it won’t be boring. English has long been considered the godfather of street art, a title he’s earned by turning advertising, pop culture, and even political propaganda on its head for decades.
Long before viral videos, before Jackass, and before the internet was even a thing, English was pushing boundaries. Back in the 1970s, he was sneaking his subversive “billboard liberation” projects onto highways and cityscapes, reworking ads with biting humor and surreal visuals that made people stop and think. His mix of pop-infused imagery, what he later dubbed Popaganda, took Mickey Mouse, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald McDonald, and other icons and twisted them into strange, satirical mirrors of American consumerism.
Today, his influence is everywhere. You’ll find his work in museums and galleries, but also out in the wild, where it belongs—giant murals that blur the line between high art and public mischief. For those new to his world, English isn’t just an artist, he’s a cultural provocateur who has spent his life challenging what art can say and where it can live.
He’ll be bringing that same energy to Richmond, and for anyone curious about what goes on inside his head, there’s no shortage of videos and interviews online that capture his blend of wit, critique, and chaos. But the best way to get it might just be standing in front of one of his massive walls when it lands in your own city.
Sometime later, he made an appearance on the Morton Downey Show because his girlfriend didn’t like all the nude women and weirdos hanging around the studio.
This video sums up a big part of his career.
