The Reader (b. 1982, US, aka Mr Read aka ReadMoreBooks aka The Booker) is a graffiti and street artist who works mainly in the United States; his message, which is spread in galleries and public spaces, is an incitement to read more books. He started his career as a graffiti artist: his distinctive feature was the words “READ!” or images of books that he reproduced on the walls of public buildings. In the last years, he has started to collaborate with galleries and he has exhibited in the United States and Italy. His artworks are mainly sculptures and collages made by found objects that remind us of the layout of newspapers and books. Every component of his works is anchored in the visual language of books and reading: collages composed of fragments of magazines, images of opened books pieced together from printed ephemera (receipts, hand-written notes), sculptures fabricated from newspaper dispensers, to name but a few. While The Reader’s overarching message is conveyed so directly that it’s impossible to miss, his work draws its real power from the suggestion that existing in the world is itself a kind of reading.
