Shells on Village Paper

Just as the lease has been finalized on the sad, burned-out Village Paper, and before it gets turned into Bobo, it's been plastered with a colorful 20' x 8' mural by Jay Shells--the dog poop and subway etiquette guy--and fellow artist Benjamin Hollingsworth.


my flickr

I got in touch with Shells over email and asked him about the piece. He told me that the mural was painted in South Carolina, where he and Hollingsworth collaborated for a show called "The Stock" at Gallery Bar on Orchard Street. Wrote Shells, "the main theme is helping others and an overall sense of community. it was really interesting to just attack a monster piece like this with someone you've only briefly spoken with over the phone. very challenging and very rewarding."

The piece did not sell, so the artists decided that the mural "should be donated to the public in a place where it would be appreciated." They picked Village Paper.


my flickr

As Shells explained: "this building on west 10th & greenwich burned up over a year ago and has just been festering, derelict in that space and needed some refreshment. what better location for an uplifting and colorful mural? so, i, with the help of a few friends, installed it there on saturday. i've checked on it every day and spoken to passersby about it and the neighborhood people seem to be digging it... it was for the neighborhood. i'm very pleased with its new home and i really hope it lasts a while."

This mural, spontaneously appearing, unsponsored, and unprotected by security cameras or guards, is exactly the type of street art alternative we need to manufactured "happenings" like the Houston Wall. (For a daytime shot, see NYCBlog.)


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