Unique NY
Private Tour of Poster House Exhibition

Join Poster House and curator Tim Medland for a tour of
“We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020” exhibition.

Every poster in this exhibition is a failure—not in the sense that they failed in their graphic intent of communicating a message, but rather that they failed to successfully modify behavior. Almost all of the environmental issues showcased in these posters remain or have worsened.

Nevertheless, these impactful images have shaped the bounds of public debate on environmental issues, drawing attention to distinct and particular concerns. While these highlighted narratives have increased the visibility of environmental crises, they have historically masked systemic causes of these problems and ignored structural inequalities. They have also relied heavily on a clear visual culture associated with most environmental poster messaging—what one critic labeled “gas masks and honeybees”—creating a graphic sameness regardless of country or issue.

This exhibition avoids these tropes, charting a global history of environmental activism through posters, ranging in style from whimsical to apocalyptic.

This exhibition is supported by the Simons Foundation.