This mural stretches along the back of a building on the east side of South Congress. I say mural because in spite of the graffiti look of it, it seems very organized and not 'over-tagged.' I don't know much about graffiti but there is much in the art news about the style going back and forth between blank walls, the nation's rolling stock and spray cans at night and the world of up-scale galleries and museums. Most recently this seems to be fueled by Shepard Fairey and his Obama poster. Readers say the obviously intentional work here is his. Of course, this crossover from underground to the 'art world' is nothing new. For example: Basquiat has been dead for twenty years. For some reason, I remember only two scenes from the 1996 movie "Basquait." In one he peddles small paintings to Andy Warhol (played by David Bowie) and in another he paints a stack of tires with white paint. But what do you think: did the owners of this building sanction this decoration or not?
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mural or Tags?
This mural stretches along the back of a building on the east side of South Congress. I say mural because in spite of the graffiti look of it, it seems very organized and not 'over-tagged.' I don't know much about graffiti but there is much in the art news about the style going back and forth between blank walls, the nation's rolling stock and spray cans at night and the world of up-scale galleries and museums. Most recently this seems to be fueled by Shepard Fairey and his Obama poster. Readers say the obviously intentional work here is his. Of course, this crossover from underground to the 'art world' is nothing new. For example: Basquiat has been dead for twenty years. For some reason, I remember only two scenes from the 1996 movie "Basquait." In one he peddles small paintings to Andy Warhol (played by David Bowie) and in another he paints a stack of tires with white paint. But what do you think: did the owners of this building sanction this decoration or not?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In so far as graffiti goes, this is not bad. Most is a blight.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the blight, B Squared -- I owned a small bldg for almost twenty years and the whole time I was scared I'd get hit by taggers. That didn't happen. Someone did drive a car through the front of it one night, though.
ReplyDelete