Amphoto, New York, 1998

Guardian Angels, West 42nd St, New York, 1997

The Guardian Angels Campaign – “Just say no” was set up by then First Lady Nancy Reagan to help fight drugs. Here it stands for the noise of the city in communication with Everyman, symbolized by the man in the red car. Metropolis in the 1980s and 1990s became a collage in transition, a message continuum fixated on the here and now. Walker’s poetics, developed in New York, take account of the lettered city recognized by Pop in the 1960s, but differently weighted – to the disadvantage of the streetgoer.

Ian Jeffrey