Joe Connolly also known as the Graffiti Guerrilla is of Irish decent and is a well known community activist. He began his work to restore the community to its original state around 1993. His inspiration ignited when he moved to the Fairfax District of Los Angeles and saw how graffiti was taking over his new community. He quickly realized he did not want his wife and two children to live in that kind of environment. So Joe began to volunteer and paint over the graffiti within a twenty mile radius of the Fairfax District. He was as persistent as the bombers to his “art” for the community. Eventually he left his decade long job as a successful carpet sales man to dedicate himself entirely to paint over the graffiti in his city. Later this also included local highways thanks to his collaboration with Cal trans. In order to stay afloat financially Joe began to print self-made pamphlets of his goal for the community and personally passed them around to local businesses. He was also recognized by the city and Cal trans. Joe is in several city committees and is well known in the community.
I am on the fence when it comes to Joe Connolly and his artwork. I realize he is trying to keep his city clean and take control of the situation. I agree that if we remove all graffiti from the city it would look much cleaner. However I also know the importance of self expression and the burst of color graffiti adds to a city. I would not like to walk around a dull city full of gray, beige, and white buildings. It gives the city a bit of life and personality to have some graffiti. Yet I would not like to live in a city full of graffiti either. So maybe it is good that there are people like Joe and bombers to reach some kind of equilibrium. One thing I found very hypocritical about Joe was his mural to the bombers because it is as equally distracting as graffiti.
Lol ur right it's pretty ironic that he is against graffiti yet he did that huge ugly mural. I personally think that he is doing it for a good cause because some graffiti is not even art he is just trying to have a clean neighborhood. I mean it's not like he's removing graffiti from the public walls in Venice he is simply against vandalism of private property. I found him very unique because I learned a little about him in "bomb it" and what I found interesting was that just by looking at a certain piece of graffitti he could track down who did it.
ReplyDeleteI can see where he is coming from, and your stance on his work. Maybe if the art was done right, and wasn't just sprawls on the wall, then leave it. A majority of graffiti is pretty unsightly. I would prefer a nice mural on the wall over single color and chicken scratch graffiti any day!
ReplyDeleteWow I really liked this a lot. You gave both sides of the story as did the video "Bomb it' as well as different facts. You certainly did your research. It is very hypocritical of his message to all the graffiti artists to be posting something so big and ugly.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way you do about living in a city full of neural colors. Very boring no expressions at all. Cities that dislike the graffiti should make a graffiti wall or park.