On September 8th, West Coast graffiti blog Endless Canvas will unveil Special Delivery, a massive mural exhibition showcasing the work of over 80 of the most prolific local street artists in a three story, 36,000-square-foot abandoned warehouse. The warehouse, which is apparently a hotspot for illegal graffiti already, has been sitting empty for more than a decade. When the exhibition comes down after September, the building will be converted into permanent office space — with more new murals adorning the walls, naturally.
Endless Canvas put on a similar, albeit smaller-scale, exhibition in Portland last year. The organizers are keeping the location of the warehouse, which is somewhere in the Bay Area (most likely Oakland) under wraps in order to respect the privacy of some of the more reclusive artists. How they managed to come across such a massive space was a stroke of luck. The building developer happens to sit on the board of the Oakland Museum of California, where several of the artists' currently have work on display and offered up the ad hoc gallery.
Now the exhibition is happening three stages: First, the existing works were be restored and photographed. Then the second wave of 80-some artists like Swampy, Plant Trees and Pobrecito came in to plaster the place with new, temporary works. (No Girafa, sadly, he's still on probation.) Finally, a lucky few will return to the scene to decorate the walls during the building's renovations.
Because words aren't quite as good at displaying what we can only imagine will be eyeball-melting technicolor, here's a trailer for the event:
