“In true form, GAIA found himself in some of Chicago’s worst neighborhoods during one of the bloodiest summers on record,” says Nick Marzullo, owner of Pawn Works Gallery. According to most news reports the city has suffered the most violence in years, and the summer heat seems to exacerbate the duress. “Homicides are up by 38 percent from a year ago, and shootings have increased as well, even as killings have held steady or dropped in New York, Los Angeles and some other cities,” writes Monica Davey in the New York Times, and while July’s total of 49 murders represented a drop, it is hard to feel safe on many streets.
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
How a Street Artist decides to put up work in a dangerous neighborhood is not clear, or what motivates the work. Sometimes it is to activate a space, to humanize it. Other times it is merely an opportunity to get up. These pieces somehow feel contextual, especially the large floating head. While the portrait may not be a direct commentary on the violence, we know that many of the dead in these crimes are fathers, brothers, and sons.
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
Gaia. Englewood Chicago, August 2012. (photo © Thomas Fennell IV)
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
You would like to think that we all have a basic set of priorities, although it's not readily apparent. Street artist and muralist Mr. Kas boldly posits that we need to remember that it's “Humanity F...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Only two weeks ago we were making jokes here about the NYC plastic bag ban and Coronavirus. Now the city, state, and federal government are in official states of...
Today's new piece by street artists/collaborators Alice Pasquini and UNO is high above your head, but the people it depicts are walking the same streets with us every day. Alice Pasquini and UNO....
A community-fueled project in a small town in Upstate New York has the draw of Lady Pink, the well-known 1970s/80s NYC graffiti writer, who lends her art and name, and spearheaded the project. Tod...
"Trash-pop" is a label that can be applied to so much that you see and hear today as an inheritor of massive consumer culture that has raged across the globe for decades. Ana Barriga in conjunctio...