hey all, i recently started hanging out at panther coffee wynwood on a regular basis because the coffee is outrageously amazing, seriously. i am the ultimate adrenaline junkie and this stuff coupled with a square or two of dark chocolate will set you zooming.
anyway, wynwood is filled with high quality street graffiti on any given wall. what i did not realize was that the streets are considered an open canvas to paint and repaint and then repaint again and again by various artists over other artists' works. not always a good choice, but accepted if it is done with respect.
omen514 painted a fabulous mural across the way from panther coffee. see pix below. it was my favorite in the district. omen514 usually hangs out in montreal.
on one of my frequent trips to panther, i was shocked to see that lister, another grafitti artist from australia/nyc with a legitimate show going on at the robert fontaine gallery across the street, had buffed omen514's beautiful mural with his own work and signed it "omen" in a yellow band of paint. see pix below.
not many graffiti artists can handle a spray paint can and make portraits like omen514. omen is not a homie so we do not know when he will be in the 305 again to work his magic. and it is magic. the mural had a lot to say on the few occasions we were able to have a chat tete to tete.
omen514 was ok with the situation because it was done with respect and not just buffing.
me? i was in tears. omen514 tweeted to me that "bad things happened." i loved that omen514 mural and was happy i got to document it on my blog before it was destroyed.
so people, is it ok for a street graffiti artist with a legitimate gallery show on the same wynwood block to paint over another artist's uber street creation?
yup, apparently so. well, at least for some. others did not think so, and repainted lister's creation. see silver miami pix below. i do not know the artist, but if you know, please leave a comment below and i will include it in this story.
this is part 1 of the wynwood graffiti street wars.
next up is part 2 of the wynwood graffiti street wars. stay tuned for how streethumanity's wynwood audrey painting got repainted by lister which then got buffed by the locals. yes!
some people do not respect exceptional street art work. and some people will seek justice on those who destroy exceptional street art work.
what do you all think?
