Katherine “Luna Park” Lorimer’s "Taking Over: Subvertising in NYC"
Schedule
Wed Jun 17 2026 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Deutsches Haus At New York University | New York, NY
About this Event
"WTF is Street Art Anyway" by Posterboy | Photo © Luna Park
"It’s More Fun Without Permission" by Yok & Sheryo | Photo © Luna Park
On June 17, from 6 to 8 PM, Deutsches Haus at NYU presents Katherine “Luna Park” Lorimer’s exhibition Taking Over: Subvertising in NYC, a decades long photographic record of interventions by artists and activists. While the output is varied—from graffitied billboards to spoofed ads in phone booths and bus shelters—the intent is the same: to hijack ad space and replace it with alternate messaging. Subvertisers envision public space that is not dominated by advertisements, preferring instead to inject doses of art, humor, and politics into the city’s veins. As such interventions are typically short-lived, often removed within 24 hours, photographic documentation plays an essential role in their dissemination.
The exhibition opening will include a conversation between Katherine Lorimer and Sarah Girner. The exhibition will remain on view through July 31.
About the artist:
Born in West Berlin to a German mother and a Scottish father, grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. She studied German literature at Oberlin College and the University of Pennsylvania, and library science at Pratt Institute. She has worked as the librarian at the Goethe-Institut New York since 2002. Her lifelong love for photography was rekindled upon joining Flickr under the alias “Luna Park” in 2005, the same year she began documenting street art and graffiti. Twenty years later, she is still passionate about photographing urban art forms and supportive of creative endeavors to redefine public space. Her book, (Un)Sanctioned: The Art on New York Streets, was published by Carpetbombing Culture in 2016. From 2017 to 2021, she was co-curator and photographer for Art in Ad Places, a campaign that replaced advertising in NYC payphones with artwork. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally and have appeared in numerous publications. She has presented her observations on street art at the Brooklyn Museum and the New York Public Library, guest lectured at Long Island University, and contributed commentary for the HBO documentary Banksy Does New York. Most recently she was featured in There’s No Reward, a documentary about graffiti photographers.
Attendance:
While NYU has ended COVID-19 related restrictions and policies, we continue to remind and recommend to members of the NYU community that they stay up-to-date on their boosters and stay home if they feel sick. Masks are always welcome.
This exhibition and opening event are made possible through an endowment established by Roger J. Schnetzer.
Where is it happening?
Deutsches Haus At New York University, 42 Washington Mews, New York, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
