Something we never thought we’d see: LIC’s 5Pointz gets stripped
5Pointz gets a new coat of paint, Jackson Ave, Long Island City
Yesterday a very concerned and frantic tipster alerted liQcity that the infamous walls of 5pointz graffiti gallery were being painted over with a fresh coat of yellow paint. Sure enough, that was the case, but fear not (or cheer not, depending on your perspective), 5pointz is merely getting a free canvas reset, as the owners of the building were required to repaint as part of the necessary renovations after the recent stairwell collapse.
The builiding owners and the City are still disagreeing over the C of O, and many artists inside the Crane Street Studios have been given vacate orders. Some of the studio space is slated to return to some kind of factory usage, and 5pointz will still exist on the exterior walls. There are some new pieces all over the building, especially where the stairwell collapsed, and every evening the artists are there, diligently trying to keep up with the yellow paint machines.
New graffiti on the Crane St side of 5Pointz, LIC
Maybe you should go back to Montana. Don’t get too used to it, hopefully it will be covered with amazing graffiti again.
Wait — I should be banished to nowhere’s land because I think 5Pointz looks like a dump? Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve been living in NYC my entire life and support local arts. Take a poll and you’ll find most people probably agree with me, if they are brave enough to admit it.
3, I’d be more concerned with the unsafe interior conditions.
I love the graffiti. When peopple come to visit, it is a definite stop on my tour of the neighborhood. It’s unique, vibrant and cool.
I think it looks dumpy with the graffiti. Isn’t there some ordinace against it?
I would rather see the 7 train be graffitied again. It would make awesome rolling murals against the bland backdrops of the LIC condo skyline. ;)
Come on. It’s a landmark. Bring the graffiti back.
Kinda sad to lose some great pieces from classic old-school graf artists.
Funny that some of the guys with pieces on that building can now sell their work in galleries for six figures…
It is sad, but at the same time, that is the nature of the art form. You create knowing it will get painted over. Grafitti has a flow; it is not permanent. In a way, that’s the beauty of it. Now you see it, now you don’t.
I like graffiti, but I do agree that the building looks nicer without it. I think it would be better if there was some master plan instead of just linear piecework thrown up as fast as possible. Some of it is stellar, but most of it is just eh…random.
Grafitti is a crime, not an art.
My favorite artist is bansky. He’s a guerilla graffitti artist, who does work all over the world and it’s clever and usually has social commentary. It’s true that the 5 Pointz artists are a lot less …sophisticated, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I like them. Their criminal acts are lovely to me.
Their acts are not criminal because they are sanctioned–actually, encouraged–by the owner of the building. And I agree that gaf is a fluid art, it gets painted over all the time. So make way for new art!
Grafitti is both a crime *and* art.
Yes, #5. It’s one of the best parts of living in LIC. Now, in my lil tour of the neighborhood, it’s 5 Pointz, the new waterfront park, PS1, and Sweetleaf.
Btw, I’m pretty sure that they won’t be painting over the classic graffiti on the inside and tops of the bldg. They repaint the outside pretty frequently to give newbies a chance for exposure.
Graffitti is vandalism. It detracts from neighborhoods. There is nothing lovely about punks like bansky.
9, just curious. Who could sell their work for six figures?
I am not a fan of Graffiti on unauthorized walls or mas transit but the work done on the walls of 5 -Pointz is great and it does add to the neighborhood. You might not like the art but it does take talent to pull-off murals of that size and that is worth celebrating but only if it is on a wall that the owner agreed to be used as a canvas.
Maybe not six figures, but Espo, who up until a couple days ago had a big old piece on the southeast corner of the building right near the 7 train, sells art in the solid 5-figure range. Kaws, too, although I don’t recall seeing his pieces at 5pointz (although he does have other pieces visible from the 7 train in other ‘hoods).
I’d love for Banksy to put up a piece on any of my walls. Instantly *raises* the value of your property, given that his pieces can sell for a half million or more.
19, count me among the people who likes some graffiti but not the sloppy, ugly ghetto tags. They are the painting equivalent of pissing on a wall to mark one’s territory. Any gallery worth anything screens out the best art from the crap. 5pointz should have done the same on its facade.
@#12- i would love to hear you expand on your post.
I think its pretty self explanitory.
13, funny. Would their criminal acts be as lovely to you if they sprayed your apartment building? I think there are many vaguely art-related people in NYC (usually from white upper middle class suburban roots) who love to fall over themselves saying how much they love graffiti, as if it somehow enhances their urban credibility. Yuck.
#24, I don’t need any “urban credibility”-I am pretty secure about who I am, where I come from and where I am right now. Frankly, that has nothing to do with my opinion on this topic. I happen to have a degree in art history.
Listen, graffiti is not art. It is an art form. What we are talking about here is the graffiti at 5 Pointz, not the kind of stuff you are talking about. I believe you are referring to vandalism. Sometimes, it’s both, but that’s not what we are reffering to here.
I have a degree in Art History too–I mean who doesn’t, but don’t you really think the building should just be replaced by about a million square feet of office space in a shiny glass box?
After all, we have to defend our materialist ethos from wandering painters who would proffer another notion of culture. You know? They must be wrong.
They’re “vandals.”
:-)
Art discussion aside, IMO the building has been a dangerous firetrap and the owner has been making a bundle exploiting artists for years – a long standing NYC practice. He is now whimpering that the City has safety restrictions and he’s ludicrously claiming that he hasn’t been making money.
We need the existence of affordable artist studios here for many reasons whether or not you like the work produced. But affordability should not be at the expense of safety.
Bravo #27
For me, 5 Pointz gives me a place to paint without having to worry about jeopardizing my freedom and taking away from me providing for my wife and son. It’s not all just kids who go and paint at 5 Pointz. It’s also older people in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s with well paying jobs and careers. It’s so easy to hate on something that don’t interest you. Most of all, Meres and the rest of the guys down at 5 Pointz VOLUNTEER their time FOR OTHERS.
More people LOVE 5 Pointz as opposed to the ones who dislike it.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS…People are allowed to let their dogs crAP AND PEE ALL OVER THE PLACE, DUMP GARBAGE WHEREVER AND IN WHOSE-EVER GARBAGE CANS THEY WANT, LEAVE THEIR BICYCLES CHAINED UP in all areas, BUT THE ARTISTS HAVE TO VACATE AND GRAFITTI HAS TO BE CLEANED UP…Long Island City is a joke..I am dissapointed and looking forward to moving back to manhattan, where there is common sense. The people who are in this “area” are unsophisticated and disrespectful. The powers that be should really take a look at what they are doing. CRACK DOWN ON THE PEOPLE moving into the hi-rises letting their dogs crap everywhere and barely clean up…MOVE BACK TO WHATEVER crap-hole they came from and leave the artists ALONE!
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I can’t believe how much better that building looks with a new lick of paint on it.