These photographs were taken a few years ago during a trip to Chicago. I believe they’re on the side of an appliance store exterior in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. As examples of signage they work well in that the type and image are rendered in a bold graphic style that is readable from a great distance. What attracted me to these painted signs was the fact that there was a faded and distressed treatment to the overall image. It turns out that sometimes the backside of America is the fakeside of America.
So why would someone do this? I think it has to do with our fondness for what lies at the heart of the backside of America—nostalgia. That ever-present notion that calls us back to a simpler time, or at least that’s how we imagine it. From our parents' and grandparents' perspective it might not have been simpler, but as children we often view the world as being simpler and that is why we love the backside of America.
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