Quantcast

What Happened to the SNIFF Paintings?

by Lisa Hix

The beauty and frustration of the art of tagging is how completely democratic it is. In the world of graffiti, art is temporary, and whoever can put down a few bucks for spray paint can (and will) smother your masterpiece with their own markings. It doesn't matter who had more talent. Just who was there last.

For years, the Albany "Bulb" Landfill, jutting into the Bay like fist, has been a treasure trove of outsider public art, including the creepy Wicker Man-esque sculpture by writer, artist, and civil-rights lawyer Osha Neumann and the one-room concrete castle by "Mad" Mark. Some of the most intriguing pieces on the Bulb were the series of driftwood paintings by the SNIFF collective, featuring Hieronymus Bosch-like scenes of debauchery and mayhem. The paintings had weathered through 10-plus years since SNIFF and other artists started transforming the landfill into a living museum in 1998.

(Photos by dorkula a.k.a. Carrie Sloan)

(Photo from Montgomery Rene on ArtSlant)

Back in January, it seems, the SNIFF paintings were still intact, and now, just three months later, they have all been torn down or tagged over, as documented by REDSTARTstudio. What gives?

Definitely some bittersweet about that, similar to when the circus sideshow panels on the first level of Brian Goggin's furniture-fleeing-the-building installation Defenestration, at Sixth and Howard in San Francisco, got graffiti'd over.

(Photo by Shawn McClung from Blabber, Etcetera)

Contact the author of this article or email tips@sfist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]