Dirty Third Streets

How to Wheatpaste

2007-01-01T15:34:00.001-06:00

Wheat- Paste Posters - video powered by Metacafe

Bombshell Poison Buffed

2006-11-24T15:33:00.000-06:00

That area behind Poison Girl has been buffed again.

Luckily, I got some flicks a few weeks ago, which I'll post in the next day or two.

Last night I walked back there to take a look at the damage, and suddenly I heard a loudspeaker come on and saw a flash from above on a telephone pole.

"This is the Houston Police Department," the speaker said. "Your picture has just been taken. Leave now."

And then there was another flash that was timed quite cleverly, taking a photo right when I stared up and found the camera.

I'd never seen anything like that before. Must be a new weapon in the War on Graffiti.

AFRO

2006-11-22T11:08:00.000-06:00

Fresh work from AFRO in Louisville.

ArtCrawl, Part Deux

2006-11-21T00:18:00.000-06:00

ArtCrawl, Part One

2006-11-19T15:06:00.001-06:00

The ArtCrawl is a yearly event in which Houston artists open up their studios and invite the public to have a look-see.

It's also a perennial opportunity for street artists to flex.

GFX came out big, doing some more of those wooden signs.

This last one got tagged over...

...along with a separate response.

Robinson Demolition

2006-11-19T14:49:00.001-06:00

And so it goes.

The End of an Era

2006-11-19T00:33:00.000-06:00

The wrecking ball has arrived; Robinson Public Warehouse is getting torn down.

The building had been derelict for years.

It's a good thing they painted over all the graffiti a month before demolishing it. You'd hate for the workers to have to be subjected to all that pesky vandalism.

I'll post some flicks soon.

The Guys from California

2006-11-14T00:10:00.000-06:00

Knitta

2006-11-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

I’ve been meaning to post on Knitta for quite a while, but I had a lot of trouble getting a good flick of one of the crew’s more clever creations: a pair of knitted shoes dangling from a power line off Hawthorne.

These next two flicks come courtesy of Groovehouse.

Here’s a link to “Knitta, Please!” the original story I wrote for the Houston Press.

The phenomenon got picked up by the Wooster Collective and in tons of other places, eventually winding up on Saturday Night Live. You can see the SNL video here.

(Photos 2 and 3 by Groovehouse)

Mr. Fangs

2006-11-12T00:23:00.000-06:00

I'll admit I've been slacking when it comes to posting flicks from Atlanta, which is a damn shame, since the ATL is one of the most paint-dripped cities in all of the South.

Now it's time to make amends, so I'll start with Mr. Fangs, whose geist icon is one of my all-time favorite street memes.

But first, many thanks to Michael Cameron for sharing these flicks.

Click here for an interview in which Fangs discusses what each color means.

(Photos by Michael Cameron)

AFRO and FONDA

2006-11-11T12:31:00.000-06:00

Here's a collaborative piece from the Bluegrass State.

GUTS

2006-11-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

It's time for another look at Southern Freight Revival, the group of artists scattered across the South who focus on trains.

These flicks come from an undisclosed location in southern Mississippi.

I love the way the pieces in these last two bounce off the frosty corporate framing.

JEWS

2006-11-10T00:15:00.000-06:00

JEWS has been on the Houston scene for quite some time. He reps Def Threats, Graveyard and Half Dead.

This first flick comes from a spot called Robocop, so named because that's where parts of the movie were filmed.

And I might be mistaken, but it looks like this second flick comes from our old friend Robinson Public Warehouse.

Tier

2006-11-08T23:54:00.000-06:00

Tier reps Buk50 in Nashville, although he's also been up in Atlanta and Memphis.

This last flick is my favorite. I had to stare at the building for a while to figure out what exactly was going on.

NOLA Represents

2006-11-05T00:24:00.000-06:00

Kari Cesta shares this flick from New Orleans.

I'd love to see more of NOLA on this site. Maybe even some shots of National Guard graffiti.

Cough. Cough. Hint. Hint. I'm talking to you, New Orleans.

Show me what you got.

(Photo by Kari Cesta)

MEAT and VERB

2006-11-04T00:08:00.000-06:00

Back in 2003 and 2004, MEAT and VERB ruled the Montrose roost.

Momo Tags All the Way Across Manhattan

2006-11-03T16:51:00.000-06:00

You know in the movies how the serial killer always leaves a pattern when you view his victims from above on a map?

Well, former New Orleans resident Momo just freakin' killed all of Manhattan, dripping paint across the entire island.

Click here for the video.

D.C. Represents

2006-11-02T12:38:00.000-06:00

Terrell Abbott snapped this flick while hanging out in Washington, D.C.

Technically, D.C. isn't part of the Dirty South, but it's close.

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T12:32:00.000-06:00

Dusti Rhodes sports the latest in Halloween fashion: graffiti.

(Artwork by GONZO247)

Charleston Represents

2006-10-28T19:09:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

Victor Palenque shares these flicks from North Carolina.

The Streets Speak: DUAL

2006-10-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

For more info, click here and here.

EON75

2006-10-17T22:48:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-16T12:10:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2006-10-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-10-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

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...

2006-10-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

...to me.

UBZRV and Misleader

2006-10-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

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

March 2006. Austin, Texas.

Robinson Public Warehouse

2006-10-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

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.

GFX

2006-10-01T23:31:00.000-05:00

Near Shepherd and Washington, GFX has nailed five works to five telephone poles.

After these ride for a few weeks, I'm gonna grab a crowbar and steal one. (Yeah, that's right. I said it.)

September 2006. Houston, Texas.

Bombshell Poison

2006-09-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

Back behind Poison Girl and Bombshell Tattoo on Westheimer, there's a parking lot whose walls just beg for tagging, and Houston's writers always seem to heed the call. There's just something about the red paint the owners use when rebuffing the walls every few months -- it's like a base coat, a color field in need of even more color. Here are a couple of flicks from 2004, right before the cycle began anew.

Killer Whale

2006-09-27T22:03:00.000-05:00

I have no idea who made this whale -- and this was the only one I ever saw -- but it definitely was killer.

Circa 2004. Houston, Texas.

Double-headed Satanic Political Beast

2006-09-27T21:55:00.000-05:00

This stencil -- Bush and Kerry, two sides of the same political beast -- popped up all over the Montrose before the 2004 presidential election.

Basho and Chicken Boy

2006-09-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

Here's another 2004 haiku, seen with a Chicken Boy sticker:

Failure

2006-09-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

A few 2004 flicks featuring Failure.

Seems like this first paste was up forever:

This set had a little haiku nearby:

Give Up and Scatterbrain Collective

2006-09-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

Here's another Give Up, circa 2004, coupled with one of those grenade microphones from Scatterbrain Collective.

To learn a little more about these and other players, check out this article I wrote for the Houston Press.

Post Number One

2006-09-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

Let's call this Post Number One, because, well, that's what it is.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting various flicks of street art I've seen in Houston over the last couple of years, and after that it's up to y'all to start sending me your shit.

Let's do this, people.

Here's a classic from Give Up, circa 2004.

More to come...