A guerrilla street-art exposé on the absurdity of modern society. We’ve grown comfortable with impossible narratives, limited imaginations, and the normalization of unthinkable atrocities—clinging to suspended disbelief instead of facing hard truths. Through mass-produced, playfully dark imagery, the project aims to seed skepticism in a barren collective imagination, holding up a mirror to our existential dread and the loosening grip on reality embraced by today’s culture. Empire Citizens provokes, challenges, and pushes for a more creative, thoughtful, and engaged way of living.
Launched in Kentucky in 2015 with hand-cut stencils sprayed onto scraps of grip tape, the project quickly evolved into mass-produced stickers and paste-ups spread nationwide and shared with collaborators worldwide. Over time, it has grown into a full street-art campaign using every available medium—stickers, stencils, paste-ups, murals, sculpture—anything that can leave a mark. Its aim is to confront the willfully blind, urging anyone who encounters it not just to look, but to think critically and understand the larger context.
EMPIRE CITIZENS
Empire Citizens work has been featured in many solo and group exhibitions both domestically and abroad, employing all available means of art making. Exhibition opportunities and commissions are always exciting, please contact if interested.
The real passion behind Empire Citizens work has always been to activate public space, mostly by means of covert tactics. Whether it’s producing fake ads, slapping stickers, pasting posters, or painting murals, the goal has always been to get the art to the people, no middleman needed.
Crazy Wold Documentary Short Film
New Collection
With this new line of Empire Citizens merch, we aim to put the art into the hands of the viewer to further engage the conversation about the meanings behind the image. All funds generated from this website go directly back into producing more work to further the campaign. Want something you don’t see? Feel free to contact us.
• Fabric weight: 9 oz./yd.² (305 g/m²)
• Bag size: 5.7″ × 7.7″ × 2″ (14.5 cm × 19.5 cm × 5 cm)
• Capacity: 0.37 gallons (1.4 l)
• Water-resistant and durable
• Sturdy fabric with fusible backing to add firmness
• Inside and outside pockets
• Adjustable strap
• Two-way zipper
• Blank product components sourced from China
• Heather Grey is 70% cotton, 30% recycled polyester
• Other heather colors are 60% cotton, 40% recycled polyester
• Fabric weight: 8.3 oz./yd.² (280 g/m²)
• Relaxed fit
• Three-panel hood with matching round drawcord
• Zipper with auto-lock slider
• Front kangaroo pockets
• Ribbed cuffs and waistband
• Blank product sourced from Pakistan
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!
• Sport Grey is 90% cotton, 10% polyester
• Ash Grey is 99% cotton, 1% polyester
• Heather colors are 50% cotton, 50% polyester
• Fabric weight: 5.0–5.3 oz/yd² (170-180 g/m²)
• Open-end yarn
• Tubular fabric
• Taped neck and shoulders
• Double seam at sleeves and bottom hem
• Blank product sourced from Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Mexico
Disclaimers:
• Due to the fabric properties, the White color variant may appear off-white rather than bright white.
• Dark color speckles throughout the fabric are expected for the color Natural.
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!