The Bowery Mural Wall is a renowned mural site in New York City. In the late 1970s, Keith Haring illegally painted an original mural as a gift to the community. While this mural did not last long, the wall sat unused for 30 years until 2004 when the new owners began commissioning artists to create rotating murals. Notable artists who have created works for the wall include Shepard Fairey, Futura 2000, and David Choe. However, Choe's mural was bombed only four days after completion, likely in response to past controversies. The rotating murals have made the wall an iconic site that attracts visitors and brings attention to the artists.

1. Thanks, Yeva!

2. Bowery Mural: Where it all started…

3. Keith
Haring

4. The Bowery Mural Wall:
Where it all started…
The Bowery Mural Wall is
currently one of the highest
regarded mural walls in the
United States.
Keith Haring made the wall
infamous by painting an original
mural as a (illegally painted) gift
to the community in the late
1970's.
While this mural did not last long
(it was soon overtaken by other
graffiti, advertising, and other
urban ephemera), the wall sat
unused for 30 years, when the
Goldman family purchased the
property in 2004…

5. Keith Haring @125 and FDR drive

6. Keith Haring
The rotating series of murals began in 2008, four years after
Goldman Properties purchased the land. Together with curator Jeffrey
Deitch, they kicked off the mural rotation with a reproduction of the
Keith Haring original (Haring had died back in 1990).
When the reproduction was first painted over, there was a small but
vocal public outcry about changing this work.

7. Mr. Brainwash’s work on the left side!!!

8. Os Gemeos
July 2009

9. Shepard Fairey
April 2010

10. FAILE
Oct 2011

11. HOW and NOSM
Oct 2012

12. HOW and
NOSM
Oct 2012
howandnosm.com/

13. Swoon and Groundswell
Oct 2013

14. Maya Hayuk
Feb 2014

15. Cope2
May 2014

16. Ron English
April 2015

17. THANKS PROMIA!

18. Futura...

19. Futura 2000

20. On the second day of installing his work, Futura was visited by Cope2 who
showed up apparently to support his old friend. While there, though, graffiti
beef spilled into the streets. We are told that fellow artist HOW reportedly
called Cope out for “being a snitch” and for his alleged relations with the
Goldman Properties head (owner and operator of the wall), as well as the
purported tape of said actions.

21. So, in broad daylight and a crowded sidewalk scene, Cope2 purportedly
pulled out a weapon (supposedly a gun) and was later arrested by
plainclothes cops. He was let go within a couple hours – uncharacteristically
quick – because he’s allegedly a “secret” informant for them.

22. Reactions and responses…
• Tatiana: I guess informants are snitches then??
• Kendell: If Cope is so passionate about graffiti, why
is going out of his way to snitch on people?
• Kellyah: Maybe he got arrested before and he
snitched on someone and let him go????
• Tenz: …why does he have a gun? Is this for
protection or is he a gangsta’.
• Delani: what was he snitching about?
• .

23. Reactions and responses…
• Katelyn: I’m Shook. It’s so crazy that all this
happened over a simple comment.
– Adrianna: I told you he has anger issues!!
• Abdul: Cope is definitely tellin’. (he is an opp)
• Adrianna: They’re professional artists…but Cope
isn’t acting professionally.
– Danisa: now we know who the real boss.
• Adrianna: You mean Jeffery Deitch??
• Danisa: Yep. Deitch the scamma’.
• .

24. Logan Hicks
Fall 2016

25. Logan Hicks
Fall 2016

26. Logan Hicks
.
.
.

27. Logan Hicks
Logan Hicks is the latest artist to
paint a mural at the iconic
Bowery & Houston corner….it
took him weeks of hard work.
Logan Hick’s piece entitled Story
Of My Life features a crowd of
people he photographed on the
corner of Spring and Greene
Street and is a testament to his
impressive skills working with
stencils. Many of the people
depicted are important to Hick’s
life including Martha Cooper,
Chris Stain, Sara & Marc Schiller
of the Wooster Collective, Rosie
Perez, Elbow Toe, Joe Iurato, The
London Police, and Lori Zimmer,
who curated the mural for
landlord Goldman Properties.

28. David Choe

29. David Choe
Korean-American artist David Choe in the midst of
working on a piece for the Bowery Mural, at the
intersection of Houston and Bowery.

30. David Choe …
BOMBED!

31. Only four days after completing
his mural, Big Time Mafia bombs
it!
Within four days of completion,
the mural was defaced by the Big
Time Mafia graffiti crew and
another tagger. The latter tag,
which read “RAPIST” was clearly
in response to the controversy
surrounding Choe’s admitted
sexual assault towards a
masseuse.
Aside from Big Time Mafia leaving
a large BTM in large black letters.
There has been little vandalism at
the Bowery Mural over the past
decade, so this incidence is
definitely significant.

32. Final Thoughts on the Bowery Wall…
How does having this impact our city?
Yeva: It’s a smart idea to give graffiti artists a
chance to work on a legal wall. And honor their
work.
Benz: I love this wall. It gives artists a chance to do
great work, and they now have space and time to
make the best work they can.
Azalea: There should be one in every
borough….competitive and cooperative.
Moh: This represents NYC’s artistic side…tourists
can see this.....
Kristen: I like this idea of the wall. It acknowledges
graffiti as art.
Daymoni:It allows artists to show off their full
abilities.
Levy: This helps the Goldman Properties Public
Relations…it’s like advertising for them.

33. Final Thoughts on the Bowery Wall…
How does having this impact our city?
Sarah: It attracts people to come to Bowery to
look at it…it changes all the time and people
wanna see what’s new.
.Promia: It helps the ”scenery of the city.”
Katelyn: it brings people from different
communities together…..there’s different people
with different views that come to see it.
Aidan: It provides a sense of community. We all
get to share this art that’s always being redone. It
also seems related to NYC…
M-Train: The bowery wall changes as the city
changes. We’ll always be changing….It’s also a
tourist attraction.
Sakin: It’s like a “message board.” There’s always
tags in the city…but to have one wall dedicated to
this is awesome. You can’t miss it.

35. DO NOW
• Get out an ID, Flashdrive and your notebook.

36. Laptops
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