Why am I showing you a blank wall on the side of a building? Well, until recently a mural was here. This mural:
It was spray painted on a building in a transitional neighborhood last autumn and immediately many people were concerned about what it might represent and the potential impact on the community. (To read my post about it at the time click here.) The controversy swelled to the point that after so many requests to remove it, including a letter from the City Commission, the owner of the building quietly had it painted over. I noticed it was gone one evening. Then, about a week later the local newspaper picked up the story. The international artist, simply known as MTO, returned to town shortly afterward and spray painted another mural on the side of a building about one block away. And...a new controversy seems to be percolating. I'll try to show that one soon. In the meantime, what do you think? Should the 'Fast Life' mural have stayed or gone?
6 comments:
What a dramatic change! Don't see why it's threatening but what do we know?
Darryl and Ruth :)
I recognized the building immediately and remembered your original post. I feel bad for the artist who put so much time and effort into that mural.
I thought it was sort of cool. Censorship in Sarasota! ;)
It looks better with the mural, but I bet I know why it's a goner. Show the other one, please. Who is MTO?
It seems to me that if the building owner wanted the mural and it is not obscene in any form, it should have stayed.
So often the people who yak the most about freedom define freedom as doing what they want done.
A hard call SRQ, the trouble is if enough people make a fuss then I guess something had to be done, I agree pretty offensive for the artist. Very much looking forward to seeing his other artwork. So now we have Banksy, ROA and MTO and I bet many more, creating their art in a massive form.
Post a Comment