Art critic and photographer Claudine, who has been something of a modern-day Chalfant or Ahern by cataloging photos of graffitti pieces throughout the city, left a comment in our Get Ur Geek On: Warbussing EssEff piece where we had posted a picture of his trademark frog on the mural space at Galeria de la Raza. She tipped us to a debate about the piece over at Flickr brought on by a posting at the gallery shop taking Ribity to task for defacing the billboard space, which often features some pretty exciting work (and is often tagged by others as well). The post reads:
OPEN LETTER TO RIBITYRibity:
Graffiti is an important expression of urban culture. However, now that you have made it a habit of defacing this billboard, sponsored by Galeria de la Raza, a community art space, we REALLY wonder about your PRIORITIES:
- By tagging our murals, the only thing one can think is that you are a narcissist prick.
- You have already damaged $2,000 worth of property. This constitutes a felony.
- You choose a very "accessible" target. Don't you have more challenging goals?
- We don't expect much self-reflection on your behalf. Don't you think that it's really poor judgement to tag murals created by other artists?
- What do you think it means to tag a non-profit community art space?
- That is one ugly frog.
We hope you develop better drawing skills and better judgement.Best,
Galeria de la Raza and friendsP.S. We can easily find out who you are. If you do not stop tagging, we will prosecute you. Now that you are 18, you are liable.
We have to admit that when we first saw the bomb, the piece there had been up for a while and seemed to have been torn at before he threw up on the wall, but can't be sure. Needless to say, we liked seeing his frog around the neighborhood (where we live) but now admit that we're questioning his judgement, as well. If you want to take it up with the San Francisco Department of Public Works, you can call 28-CLEAN or email them.
Photo which may or may not have caught the man himself on camera by quasistoic.
