“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:
Make sure you stop by the deli when your near Rockefeller Center. Lucy Sparrow. "Lucy Sparrow's Delicatessen on 6th". Rockefeller Center. New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo) You know, Lucy Sparrow’...
Was Leonora Carrington revealing to us a world of creatures that once existed in our world which we evolved from, or was she following the natural indicators that she sensed to predict the world and ...
This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city t...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Ugangprosjektet 2015 in Drammen, Norway. A Film by Selina Miles 2. Crack & Shine ...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! End of January, beginning of looking forward to spring. With warmer, wetter weather than we've had in years, we also have some plants popping up from the soi...