Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Saving Grafitti

August 12, 2009 by Marion Maneker

New York Magazine profiles the Ace Hotel in New York’s Midtown South where artist Michael Anderson has created a mural out of his collection of graffiti stickers, said to be the world’s largest:

Ace Hotel Mural by Michael AndersonThe collection now numbers at least 40,000—a testament to the sheer number of graffiti stickers, which are so ubiquitous in New York as to be nearly invisible, the visual equivalent of a honking taxi horn. For years, they sat quietly in notebooks in the artist’s Upper West Side apartment. Last April, the owners of the new Ace Hotel at 29th and Broadway came calling with a mural commission. Completed last month, it’s most likely the only museum devoted to this extremely ephemeral form.

Consisting of 4,000 or so stickers scanned from Anderson’s notebooks, printed in black-and-white on silk paper, and assembled into a dense collage, the mural evokes both the Giuliani years and a grittier, preboom downtown. “I think of myself more like the curator rather than the artist,” Anderson says, standing in the Ace lobby. As a curator and collector, he took an egalitarian approach: The mural contains stickers by well-known graffiti-ers like Barry McGee (who tagged as Twist) and Steve Powers (ESPO), as well as those of the unknown and untalented.

Peel Slowly and See (New York Magazine)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Understanding the Abu Dhabi Art FairUnderstanding the Abu Dhabi Art Fair
  • Not Interested in Naked BruniNot Interested in Naked Bruni
  • ABMiami: Toning Down & Spreading OutABMiami: Toning Down & Spreading Out
  • Gagosian: New York's Dominance WaningGagosian: New York's Dominance Waning
  • 2 x 200 Wants You to Own Art2 x 200 Wants You to Own Art
  • How to Make Your Art an InvestmentHow to Make Your Art an Investment

Filed Under: Artists Tagged With: Featured

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...