by Paul Schmelzer, September20, 2009 • Rightwingers, normally champions of property-owners’ rights, are apparently tagging LA with an anti-ACORN stencil, and they’ve reportedly hit, among other locations, Shepard Fairey’s studio. (Editor’s note: Fairey authored a famous campaign poster for Barack Obama.)
A stencil reading “ACORN Funded Prostitution Zone” appeared on the wall of Fairey’s Echo Park shop, leading Fishbowl LA to make the inane assumption that “its location suggests that Fairey or someone in his crew is behind the image.” (That line is getting amplified by rightwing blogs like Michele Malkin’s Hot Air.)
| Eyeteeth – Paul Schmelzer is a writer, editor, and journalist, and the managing editor of Minnesota Independent. Occasional posts from his blog, Eyeteeth, are re-published with his permission. |
While I find that legit street-artists aren’t so prone to hitting pristine buildings, there’s a bigger reason to doubt Fairey’s involved — aside from the fact that it looks nothing like his work: He had the historic building sandblasted and coated with anti-graffiti sealant to protect the brick, according to The Eastsider LA. The more obvious hypothesis is that Fairey’s studio was hit in retaliation for his involvement with progressive causes.
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