63. MODERN DOG
Created specifically to be auctioned off with all profits going to help the Red Cross Hurricane relief effort, Michael Strassburger’s poster uses subtle humor to make a serious comment on the Federal Government and FEMA’s deplorable treatment of Hurricane Katrina’s victims.

“I was so angry and dismayed at our government’s response,” he says, “that I couldn’t help but make a statement. Instead of lashing out from my own position, I connected a statement to a hurricane survivor. I wanted the statement to be at the forefront of the poster, so I only used rough black-and-white line work to illustrate the person and some of the surroundings to give it context. I intentionally cropped the person below the eyes so he wasn’t an individual as much as a symbolic person representing many. Lastly, I put in a tiny bit of red on the water bottle as a tip-of-the-hat to Red Cross.” Strassburger likes to employ the multi-layered effect of double entendre in his artwork.

“On first read, the humor on this poster can be read as very light and superficial,” he says. “With a little extra pondering, it can be read as very sad and serious.”
Romy Ashby