PH-born comics artist’s works celebrate San Francisco’s poets on Market Street

SAN FRANCISCO – Philippine-born comics artist A.C. Esguerra’s 12 unique poster designs celebrating San Francisco poets are on view along Market Street between Hyde Street and the Embarcadero at 18 SFMTA transit kiosks through January 2023.

A.C. Esguerra’s illustrations are part of the San Francisco Art Commission’s 2022 Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series program.

Esguerra’s illustrations for “San Francisco – The City of Poets,” are the San Francisco Arts Commission’s (SFAC) fourth and final installment of commissioned posters for the 2022 Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series program.

“These magnificent works by A.C. Esguerra truly illustrate why San Francisco is known as the City of Poets,” said Ralph Remington, SFAC director of Cultural Affairs, in a press statement. “I am thrilled that the final installation of our 2022 Art on Market Street Poster Series highlights the beautiful art of poetry and features some of San Francisco’s most notable poets and authors.”

The two-sided poster series feature six poets: Janice Mirikitani, June Jordan, Victor Martinez, Al Robles, Pat Parker, and Alejandro Murguia.

On one side of the posters, Esguerra interprets and illustrates selected poem(s) from each poet, and on the reverse, creates a one-page comic presenting a brief biographical overview of the author.

“This was an amazing opportunity to bring poetry off of the shelves and onto the streets,” shared Esguerra in a press statement.  “It was an honor to use my skills as a visual communicator to translate that lyricism and beauty into the ultra-accessible, visually exciting form of comics. If these posters can get any passerby on Market Street engaged with the work of these poets, my job is done.”

Born in Manila, Esguerra is a comics artist and illustrator whose debut graphic novel was Eighty Days, an award-winning queer historical romance epic about 1930s pilots. Most recently, Esguerra illustrated “Who Was…Amelia Earhart.”