Barry McGee Mural, Soho, New York 2010

In the Lower East Side neighborhood I stayed last month in New York, there was a large mural which attracted huge amount of attention. Everyday, I saw people snapped up picture and videotaped it.

On the lower one-third of a huge white-washed wall, pink graffiti arabesque of at least the height of four persons, sprawled over unbroken like the style of Cy Twombly.  Upon examining the pictures and video recording, I realized that there were names and other mysterious symbols, though it was too engaging as a whole for me to dive into the details.

From the distance, the monumental mural was alternately sweet, strange, melancholic and even desolate, depending on if and what was moving in front of it and the time of the day or night.

This work by San Francisco born Barry McGee was the best contemporary mural I've ever seen. 

























It was mesmerizing and contained tales of a city, or a life.



>> New York City Report, September 2010, Part XVIII: David Antonides, Watercolorist in Soho, New York 
<< New York City Report, September 2010, Part XVI: Liao Yibai: Real Fake - Mike Weiss Gallery, New York City