American Folk Art: Artist Barry ‘Wildman’ Snyder’s Produce Sticker Obsession

For Modern Farmer, Sam Brasch writes: At 60, Barry “Wildman” Snyder can’t eat his way to all the stickers he needs for his art work. The late-night trips to the grocery store for plum labels are stories from his days as a younger man.

Now, he prefers dry fruit. Fans mail the stickers from their fresh veggies to him on pieces of wax paper. The sheets lay on his lap in the morning when he fills the outline of a Frank Zappa album cover imitation or, most recently, an old Studebaker truck.

Since picking up the hobby as a high schooler in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he has noticed a few changes in the little pieces of paper or plastic stuck to fruits and vegetables. The adhesives on the back of each sticker vary, so he adds a touch of Elmer’s before adding each on to his collage. He also isn’t quite sure what to do as identification numbers and bar codes make up more and more of each sticker, crowding out some of his needed colors.

That attention to tactile realities complements his suspicions of anything high tech. When I had a chance to see Barry at work in his home in Erie, Colorado, he explained me to his roommate as, “some kind of web journalist. Doesn’t even use real ink!”

He sells prints the old-fashioned ways: off the walls of local coffee shops, from art festivals or over the phone. He has a website, but mainly sees it as a vehicle to get people to call…(see more)

Modern Farmer

All images copyright of Barry Snyder

Related articles

• Fruit Sticker Art (neatorama.com)