Cave Tirado shakes a can of orange spray paint and begins to emblazon his name onto his first American wall. He is not looking over his shoulder or worried that the police might catch him.Tirado, 19, traveled to New York from Spain, partly to see the city, but mostly to leave his mark on the walls of an old Queens warehouse where graffiti is legal.
Graffiti artists find legal haven in NYC
"I always write my name," he said in Spanish, while wearing a graffiti-style shirt that also bears his name. "To represent your name — that's what graffiti is to me."
The warehouse, called 5 Pointz, has become a haven for artists in a city where graffiti has flourished for decades and where city officials have waged a seemingly endless battle to keep it out.
Photo from About.com
14 comments:
Places like 5 Pointz helps spread the plague known as graffiti. There are no "artists" here, they're vandals, pure and simple.
""We're not killing anyone, nor are we robbing. We're not doing anything..."
Oh yes, they are, they're destroying other people's property, lowering their property values, killing the neighborhoods, and oh yeah, committing a crime.
I would be interested in seeing Rob's analysis of how 5ptz destroys other people's property, lowers property values beyond the building itself, and kills neighborhoods-- especially the block across from PS1. Would that be some kind of yuppie paradise if 5ptz were not there? Never mind the taxicab maintenance lot and the 7 train screeching overhead...
Artistic graffiti is IMO a relief from the urban blight that pervades Queens (especially in our drab, gray wintertime). But tagging and property damage are not interesting, and are not cool. There are distinctions to be made. Classifying it all under one umbrella is a mistake. And if we agree that graffiti on public property should be stiffly punished, that still has nothing to do with 5Ptz.
Rob.....
You're a horses dick!
No.....
I doubt that your meager girth is likely
to impress the girls that much!
"5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center Inc."
is a not for profit outdoor aerosol art museum
and recognized throughout the world as such
despite your limited view of the art world.....
or even the real world for that matter!
It has been the subject of many
film documentaries from all points of the globe.
"5 Pointz" has also received much favorable mainstream media coverage for steering talented young artists away from illegal graffiti
and into professional art careers.
"Meres", its director,
is a superb accomplished artist himself......
who has done work all over NYC
and around major cities in Europe.
To cite an example,
one of his paintings (a huge10'X30' canvas) was commissioned by....and is currently in the vast international art collection of Deutsche Bank (NYC).
He has also designed movie titles for feature films, logos, ads and has taught a slew of classes
to many groups of underprivileged children.....instructing them in the basics of the art.....all without being payed.....I might add!
Meres loves his work and he loves those kids......giving to them endless hours, his skills and resources.
You should personally witness (as I have) the faith
that these children have in themselves after they leave a class at 5 Pointz!
I'd like to see some "teachers"in our "bored of education" school system
turn around so many young lives as Meres has!
All work done at "5Pointz" is legally commissioned by (raised seal) permit only. And, I believe,
you've got to be at least 18 years old to paint there.
One"graduate" of "5 Pointz" is now teaching art. Another is an art director in an advertising agency!
What do you do "Rob" to make ends meet besides kiss Peter ("Junior") Vallone's ass ?
P.S.
FYI......Meres happens to be an "Eagle Scout"!
That doesn't quite fit into your negative stereotype of a "vandal" does it? !!!
Having met Meres, I should also point out that he attended FIT, and lives in Queens. 5 Pointz is not some blank slate, all graffiti on its walls must receive permission.
5 Pointz blurs the distinction between graffiti and murality. Is it a tag or a mural, I used to ask. Provides a great last great outdoor view before the 7 train enters its tunnel.
Graffiti is mostly made up of letters, so it's a type of lexiography or font, just like Times Roman or Arial are. So instead of trying to classify graffiti as art why not just describe it as a unique, abstract, and surreal style of handwritting or penmanship...as well as a real pain in the a** if it happens to get scrawled on the walls of your home or office.
Good point, rob, places like this bring an element into the surrounding neighborhood. They 'tag' nearly everything that's stationary, including their grandmothers if they stand in one place long enough.
They get 'riled up,' much like the crowds after a Rocky movie, and spread their mess for many blocks.
Why can't the children learn to paint like Norman Rockwell?
You should have seen what the "hood",
particularly what the 5 Pointz building itself,
looked like 15 years ago
before the "Phun Phactory".....
which preceded 5 Pointz was first established.
It was a graffiti "bombed" building.
Now it's covered in world class art!
You're talking through your ass
without any real knowledge......"anonymous #3"!
(C-mon....you're really "Rob" who's double posting....aren't you)?
This ain't residential Scarsdale .
It's an industrial area for pitty's sake.......get real !
It looked like a shit hole since way back past
the days of the 1960s.
Stop blaming 5 Pointz for everything
that occurs around the surrounding blocks.
It's an improvement.
Check out the street near
the Shannon Pot Bar & the Court Square Diner
some late weekend night......
the hookers are running rampant.
(Go out and count the number of used condoms
for yourselves)!
I suppose 5 Pointz is now part of a prostitution ring !
Puh...leeze!
The value of properties are skyrocketing in the area......
regardless of its appearance!
So your argument that 5 Pointz is responsible
for "lowering property values" is bogus.....
just like you "Rob" and his anonymous "friend"!
City Corp Bank....just a few blocks away.....
had awarded in the past at least 2 community grants
to the the 5 Pointz site
(previously as the Phun Phactory)
thus supporting the aerosol art program in this area.
Banking institutions are as conservative
as you can get.....YET.....
City Corp recognized the positive contributions
made by this avante garde art movement.
This art form has been currently transformed
to its zenith under the talented direction
of Meres at 5 Pointz!
Note:
Meres has done many gratis murals
for the fallen heros of the World Trade Center.
Aerosol art is ephemeral.
Some day it will be gone.....
transformed and absorbed into the next phase of art.
So goes the creative cycle.
Why not enjoy its momentary vitality
and craftsmanship while it lasts?
Take a deep breath and inhale its rich colors and facile movement.
It's a visual fountain of youth! Keep an open mind.
I notice how nobody has criticized
the ugly dated looking architecture that
City Corp has rammed into the neighborhood......
soon to be followed by many others.
And, unlike the already fading
spray paint artworks that "bless the hood"......
their monolithic shadows will be forever cast
upon the pavement
obliterating the sunlight of the soul!
G-d bless Meres at 5 Pointz.....
for the respite you've bestowed upon us all!
Keep up the great deeds!
"I would be interested in seeing Rob's analysis of how 5ptz destroys other people's property, lowers property values beyond the building itself, and kills neighborhoods"
Look grafitti says one word: "Ghetto"
You see it on a deli, and it becomes a bodega, on the side of a store, think gaudy cheap furniture, on the side of a house, and think slum.
How much grafitti do you see in Brooklyn Heights? How much in Queens?
(anonymous above me) pablo picasso painted a bilding would you still think of it as ghetto? all artist start out somewhere and no artist or form of art is accepted for a long time maybe you need to stop being so closed minded and racist just because a store has a painting on it doesnt mean its has crap in side or that is a bodega i personaly hope you never come in to any of my stores cause your not welcom
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