Happy Halloween

Dusti Rhodes sports the latest in Halloween fashion: graffiti.





(Artwork by GONZO247)

Charleston Represents

Victor Palenque shares some more flicks, this time from South Carolina.







OBEY has family in Charleston, and he rolls through every Christmas:





(Photos by Victor Palenque)

Asheville Represents

Victor Palenque shares these flicks from North Carolina.

The Streets Speak: DUAL

The DUAL series popped up on the Houston scene about a year ago. The artist bounces around from pasting to stickers to painting, always keeping it fresh, almost always making use of duality in one way or another, just like his name suggests.

I managed to track down the artist and asked him to comment on his work. You can see what he has to say below, but before we begin, let us give thanks to Groovehouse for sharing these flicks.

Okay, here we go.


The special gift one is pretty self-explanatory. I can take anything -- doors, buff marks, dumpsters, etc -- make it mine and give it back to the environment. I chose the little kids to represent innocence. Keep an eye out for more of these kids.



A favorite actor of mine, Bert Lahr, the Cowardly Lion. His expression brings a sense of worry and timidity. Which is exactly how I wanted people to feel when they first started seeing these.



Billy the Kid, a perfect icon for being a wanted rebel.



The skirts, a mirrored image of a girl, was just a fuckaround... ha ha



Double-headed eagle, based on a 15th-century crest, to which I added another head, represents power and duality.



Richard Pryor – This is just an homage to him which contains a little snippet from a stand up, which I thought was pretty clever. The white man might not… =)


All of my work is based on the idea that the world was created by the concept of good and evil, black or white. Thus the name DUAL... Two heads on an eagle, two girls, two little kids – they all back up my theory of duality.

(Photos by Groovehouse)

First TRAGIK, then Guys, then DTS/GY

It's time for some more graffiti archaeology.

The place: A container behind a gas station at Washington and Studewood.

This first photo is from 2004, although the piece by TRAGIK had been up for a few years.



Here's a close-up of flyers added by The Guys from California in 2004.



And here's what's there now.



If anything, it's kind of cool that I happened to snap two flicks, two years apart, from almost the exact same vantage point.

I Love You Baby

For more info, click here and here.

EON75

Representing HBTK and OGT crews, EON75 shares these flicks of legal walls he painted in Naples, Florida.




(Click the flicks to see the details.)

REKONE

REKONE is part of Southern Freight Revival, a group of artists scattered across the South who focus on trains.









These pieces originated in Birmingham, Alabama, but who knows where they are now.

Momo

One-time New Orleans resident Momo went super-big last month at Wooster and Grand in this collaboration with Zosen from Barcelona. The commercial-poster people who "own" the spot didn't take too kindly to his work, and now all that's left are the memories.

September 2006. New York, New York.

Robinson Gets Buffed!!!

I was driving down Studemont two days ago when I saw a couple of worker-types repairing the back fence of Robinson Public Warehouse, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the buff monster was about to make an appearance.

And shit, my worries were confirmed this morning.

The entire warehouse has been buffed. Everything is gone.

I saw a Channel 2 truck parked in the lot, where a reporter was talking to a cop, no doubt preparing yet another story about how those evil graffiti artists had the nerve to paint on a building that has been an unused, derelict eyesore for years.

Those damn graffiti artists…

Perhaps most distressing: a Waldo was painted over. Now, normally I accept the buff monster as an inescapable player in the world of street art, and, you know, the ephemeral nature of most pieces makes them more fascinating, at least in my opinion, but that Waldo wasn’t doing anyone no harm. But the buff monster ate him up, no questions asked, leaving behind the wheat-pasted advertisements that were hanging out nearby.

Score one for Madison Avenue.

Give Up and YAR!

It's time for a little graffiti archaeology.

Two wheat-pastes. The first: a 2004 Give Up. The second: a 2006 YAR!

Both on the same spot of a boarded-up building at Main and Pease.


Houston, Texas.

Mr. Waldo

No explanation necessary.



Here's a close-up of what appears to be a cock with tits for balls, which someone stuck on Waldo's hand.

September 2006. Houston, Texas.

Happy Birthday...

...to me.

UBZRV and Misleader

Abrahan Garza shares these flicks, both of which feature some nice add-ons.

March 2006. Austin, Texas.

Robinson Public Warehouse

At the corner of Studemont and Allen Parkway stands Robinson Public Warehouse, which has been derelict as long as I can remember. It's become a graffiti gallery of sorts, its loading docks serving as booths for local taggers.

These photos were taken in 2006, although some of these pieces have been up for years.














Houston, Texas.