“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:
When you first pull into a new town you have to trust your personal barometer; a series of individual metrics you have devised over time with which to measure its personality and state of mind. For e...
Now appearing an eight-hour car ride south from the Strait of Gibraltar along Morocco’s coast is North Africa’s largest new mural. Given its proximity to the eight mile Africa/Europe divide, the new p...
"Barter and flea market for the curious. Open the safe door. Take a look Deposit, Take, Exchange!" Tuco Wallach shares his latest interactive project today to see what people will use the depos...
Fintan Magee has been experimenting with the various visual effects that occur when one is looking at a figure through a lens/glass/texture of some kind. In August we showed you a mural he had comple...
Fun summer shots at Welling Court in Queens today as two big names from the New York graffiti scene, Daze and BG183 (TATS Cru) collaborated on a piece. The symbols they use meld together some of the ...