January 28, 2005

Street leaves

Street leaves - Valencia @ 20th

There was a gas station on the corner of Valencia & 20th that closed a few months ago. As soon as the business shut down, the city writers came out to throw up some very nice burns on the storefront. I remember Shepard Fairey was in town for his show at The Shooting Gallery, and lo & behold a big-ass OBEY wheatpaste plastered the gas pump pillars. Those street artists were swift on their feet.

The Mission has a high concentration of the best urban art I've seen in SF. The graffiti comes in all manner of wheatpaste, stencils, stickers, tags, etc.... Coupled with the classic Mission murals, street expression is alive and very well. I woke up one morning, took a stroll down Valencia to my local pho joint and found the fence surrounding the closed gas station beautifully decorated with autumn leaves. A natural, creative foreground to the graffiti unseen behind the gate. This piece makes me smile.

January 01, 2005

Stay Alive in 2005

Happy New Year 2005
Some of my friends started a tradition of coming up with a funny slogan for the pending new year. I fondly remember "What about me in '83" -- but the best one was a M.A.D.D. campaign dubbed "Stay Alive in '85." Considering the new year has come in with full tsunami power (losing many lives), I think it only fitting to seriously carry on the same slogan for 2005. May everyone find more joy, more love and more peace this year.