Features

Graffitirazzi – Facing Off with a Downtown Tagger

By Gar Smith
Friday April 05, 2013 - 10:10:00 AM
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Gar Smith
One neighborhood artist I've come to know is a character I call "Mr. Watchful." His simple cartoons have placed the blocks near my downtown office under constant, bemused surveillance. Sometimes, Mr. Watchful's graffitied gawk appears on a slab of sidewalk.
Gar Smith
One neighborhood artist I've come to know is a character I call "Mr. Watchful." His simple cartoons have placed the blocks near my downtown office under constant, bemused surveillance. Sometimes, Mr. Watchful's graffitied gawk appears on a slab of sidewalk.
Gar Smith
Sometimes, he can be found smiling on the window of an abandoned store.
Gar Smith
Sometimes, he can be found smiling on the window of an abandoned store.
Or watching warily from a locked and unused door.
Gar Smith
Or watching warily from a locked and unused door.
Mr. Watchful isn't the only sketch artist keeping a lookout. He has a brother who also shares neighborhood-watch duties.
Gar Smith
Mr. Watchful isn't the only sketch artist keeping a lookout. He has a brother who also shares neighborhood-watch duties.
And a distant relative (a space-alien, perhaps) who stands guard at the entrance to a downtown alley.
Gar Smith
And a distant relative (a space-alien, perhaps) who stands guard at the entrance to a downtown alley.



Graffiti can appear as swirls of coded letters or as an outburst of design. Sometimes graffiti artists leave behind watchful faces sprayed on urban walls and peeping from downtown allies.

Here is a selection, beginning with a graffitied face gracing the entrance to Herrick Hospital