art institute hosts impromptu show of local graffiti artists

Last night members of the H2O and MUL crews attacked The Art Institute of Chicago. The result was an unsanctioned show of state of the art graffiti on the exterior of the new Modern Art wing... (insert your own ironic art joke here).

Read complete coverage of the carnage from fatcapsandchrome and view pics of the "installation" and its removal here.

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why we love street art

"The power of street art doesn't necessarily even have to lie within the context of the pieces themselves, but rather in the knowledge that no permission was sought, that someone is still working outside the systems that dictate who is allowed to use public visual space."

"Turning a public space into a vehicle for any kind of art is a politicized act in itself, whether or not the project has overtly political content."

quotes taken from OVERSPRAY MAGAZINE with props to publicadcampaign.com for bringing them to our attention.

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on the walk to work...

The walk to work takes me down Chicago Avenue from 1600 west to 900 west. This is a great route for viewing street art in Chicago. There is frequently new work being thrown up along this stretch ranging from handmade slaps to massive bombing assaults. As fresh and interesting stuff catches my eye it will be posted under this title.

Today we have a little street art history from the walk to work. I walk past this water tower every day. It's on the roof of a building on Chicago Avenue next to the expressway. Shepard Fairey hit this tower with large paste ups on two different occasions. In 1999 he put up an old school Andre face (inset, above) and in 2001 an Andre icon (inset, below). Fairey dedicates a page in his book "OBEY: Supply And Demand" to recounting the events surrounding the 2001 hit. After being caught in the act, arrested and spending the night in jail, he was able to persuade the building's owner to drop the charges against him. It turned out that the owner's kids were fans of Fairey's work.

Currently the water tower sits unadorned.

inset photos from OBEY: Supply and Demand , The Art of Shepard Fairey, 20th Anniversary Edition available directly from the Obey Giant website here.

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