Graffiti gone Rococo

During the summer of 1982, the artist Keith Haring painted a mural at Houston Street and Bowery in downtown New York City.

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The mural was up for only a few months that summer before it was painted over, but its image became an instant landmark, remaining imprinted in the memories of of the downtown artist community.

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For what would have been Haring's 50th birthday, Deitch Projects is honoring this famous artist with a mural by the Brazilian twin brothers known as Os gêmeos. In a recent NYT article, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo are said to have elevated graffiti art to its "Rococo phase".

This ornate, enormous mural stretches 51 feet long across a 17 foot high concrete wall. It's pretty impressive to imagine this was painted with spray cans. Blazing with saturated colors, the background drips down from the top with deep blue green to green to chartreuse and finally to yellow, bathing the characters in a warm glow.

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There's also a great slideshow on the mural.

I'm thrilled to see such whimsical, large scale art out there for public consumption. But it's only up 'til March, so if you're local, please go check it out!