graffiti
New work from former comic artists David Choe and Glenn Barr
Sometimes, artists who make the jump from comics to galleries have been out of the drawing-funny-books business for so long, it’s hard to tell what their current feelings are toward the medium that gave them their first push forward.
For example, it’s been a while since I heard an interview with David Choe, but when I did, they all focused on what his Facebook stock options were worth, rather than if he had any plans to bring Slow Jams back into print. We’ll give Choe the benefit of the doubt, though: He may have chanced of becoming the fourth- or fifth-richest living artist (depending on whose estimate you believe), but he still seems to be living the same productive bohemian life he’s always led. Just this week, two new projects of his have reached the internet: some street art he collaborated on in LA, and the release of a screen-print based on a mural painted on the former home of Pablo Escobar in Medellín. The print is called “Stockholm Syndrome,” presumably a comment on the madness that overtook Columbia during Escobar’s reign.
13-year-old fights to bring back Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark graffiti
Kris Akwei-Howe probably isn’t familiar with Dave Sim’s landmark Cerebus the Aardvark series, but he’s doing his part to keep him alive via another sort of landmark. The comic character used to adorn a bridge in Blyth, Northumberland, England until the county council cracked down on local graffiti and painted over it.
Now the teenager wants it back, and has started a Facebook group to build support.
It sounds like it’ll be an uphill battle, as the mural’s artist is believed to have passed away and repainting it would be a criminal act, according to the head of neighbourhood services at the Northumberland County Council.