Essences: Reverse Graffiti

Everybody knows by now Street Art which e.g includes  traditional graffiti artwork, stencil art, sticker art, wheatpasting, street poster art and many more.  Unfortunately Street Art is viewed as an act of vandalism  most of the time and the more it would be interesting how authorities see the 'magnus opum' of Alexandre Orion or Paul Curtis, better known as Moose. Those two aren't regular graffiti artists, in fact they create their street art by cleaning the dirt and grime off of surfaces! Their common weapons aren't spray cans but shoe brushs, water and elbow greases. With eco-friendly cleaning solutions provided by GreenWorks - as Curtis did in San Francisco - those artists turn grey walls and sooted transport tunnels into a lovely welcome sight.

“I make pictures by cleaning . . . I have this weird thing about dirty surfaces where I look around for it all the time; I am a professor of dirt” [Curtis]

Reverse Graffiti at San Francisco Broadway Tunnel by Reverse Graffiti Project

Reverse Graffiti at San Francisco Broadway Tunnel by Reverse Graffiti Project

Reverse Graffiti at San Francisco Broadway Tunnel by Reverse Graffiti Project

So is Reverse Graffiti -selective cleaning- this time a crime?

For one artwork in Leeds the british artist Moose recieved those words from the Leeds City Council 

“Leeds residents want to live in clean and attractive neighborhoods, and expect their streets to be free of graffiti and illegal advertising. We also view this kind of rogue advertising as environmental damage and will take strong action against any advertisers carrying out such campaigns without the relevant permission.”

And was forced to clean up his work. (by making it dirty again?)

“Once you do this, you make people confront whether or not they like people cleaning walls or if they really have a problem with personal expression.” [Curtis]

In the case of Alexandre Orion the  authorities  couldn't find anything to charge him with. They had no other recourse but to clean the tunnel — but only the parts Alexandre had already cleaned and  so the brasilian artist merely continued his campaign on the other side of traffic which caused a more drastic action - Not only did they clean the entire tunnel but also every other tunnel in Sao Paulo.