Fight For Your Right To Paint

One of my most proud moments as a native of Boston was knowing Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage. One of the most shameful moments was the harassment acclaimed painter Shepard Fairey withstood when a mural he painted turned into a legal battle. The whole situation was messy and of course Mayor Menino was embarrassed since it happened around the time the artist had a big show at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art.

Eventually Fairey, also a husband and father of two, settled the case because it was a waste of time and taxing. Now, Fairey has a show at in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood, at the historical Deitch Projects. The baby boomer owner, Jeffrey Deitch, was a pioneer gallery owner and collector, having worked with Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat. He now runs two spaces in SoHo and another in Long Island City, Queens.

An opening at Deitch means something. And an opening in SoHo reminds us that SoHo, like many other once-gritty ‘hoods, was developed and cleaned up by the artists. Most neighborhoods in NYC that people never stepped foot in 20 to 30 years ago were first inhabited by bums, drunks and junkies, and then daringly inhabited by artists and upwardly mobile gays. Decades later we can all enjoy Alphabet City, West Chelsea and SoHo, among other areas, such as parts of Brooklyn, because the artists and gays pioneered those spots for us.

Of the course the irony of Fairey’s current situation is that while we might have expected Boston to not fully understand art and the boundaries it should not be subject to, we didn’t expect this from NYC. Now, the Department of Buildings is saying that Fairey’s amazing mural on the corner or Bowery and Houston is “advertising” not art and that it was painted without a permit, according to The New York Post. Naturally, they are forcing the owner to comply with whatever action they take and Fairey is once again stifled.

This situation is ironic because without artists, most of us wouldn’t walk to Bowery and Houston, where there is now the ultimate sign of yuppification—a Whole Foods. And yet, he is once again forced to deal with the bureaucracy that should be spending its time dealing with safe housing, tenant rights and affordable living spaces, rather than policing SoHo to remove great art.

This is especially surprising as these days, graffiti artists get licensing deals with big retail brands. The message it sends is that art is to be translated into the only thing America values—a product to be consumed. Art as a think piece and a statement on society and culture is no longer welcome. It should be locked away in galleries so the masses don’t see it and start thinking.

There was once a time when America was unique partially because of the first amendment and the freedoms it allowed the American people. Now the “American dream” seems to be rooted wholly in capitalism. What’s even more ironic about this situation is that Fairey’s best known works, such as his iconic Hope print of President Barack Obama, will likely sell for millions one day at Sotheby’s, to wealthy New Yorkers, like, oh say Michael Bloomberg.

Click here for the article from The New York Post