When I first heard about Poster Boy, something about his work struck a chord, though I'm not sure if it hit all the keys. There's something admirable about the obvious social consciousness of his work and the fact that he does it under a mask of anonymity. But just like English grafitti artist Banksy before him, whose work is now fetching some steep British pounds, I guess I find it a bit ironic that it is precisely Poster Boy's desire for anonymity that is garnering him so much attention.

If you've ever ridden in the subway here in New York, perhaps you've seen his work, if you're lucky that is, to have caught sight of it before the MTA cops have. New York Magazine recently did a quick, but thorough profile of the ad mauler, who by all accounts lived the typical life of an underprivileged inner city kid: single parent home, tough breaks & a criminal record that had him headed down all the wrong roads. Except that Poster Boy, who is all of 25 years old, had enough smarts and creativity to clean himself up and enroll in community college, then art school, from which he perfunctorily dropped out.

Apparently, he has some lofty, socially ambitious goals for his work, which has me raising an eyebrow. He wants to inspire others to do the same and start a decentralized art movement, where anyone can pick up an Exacto knife and assume the role of Poster Boy. It's not that his art isn't already doing what so many artists fail to achieve, to promote dialogue and awareness of serious social issues. I mean, here I am blogging about him, and I admit wholeheartedly to being a big fan of his art.

But I guess by the time Poster Boy does become a movement, I wonder if we'll see his work hanging in a gallery. But then it won't be for free and for a few stolen moments. It'll be at a steep price, with a lot of zeroes behind it, you can be sure.