San Jose-based graffiti artist David Choe will be feeling pretty good, he’s now worth $200 million after Facebook went public on Wednesday.

In 2005, Choe who first thought of Facebook as “ridiculous and pointless” was approached by Mark Zuckerberg to paint graffiti on the walls of Facebook’s first office in Palo Alto, California.

Choe was however, paid in shares instead of cash and those shares are now worth $200 million.

According to Choe, “they cut the walls out of all [his] paintings and sent them to all the Facebook offices around the world.”

Source: Design Taxi

Steven Weinberg, 43, of Flushing, a patrolman who retired from the NYPD in 2001 after hurting his leg, is the notorious graffiti writer “Neo”.

Transit cops investigating graffiti in northeast Queens watched as Neo’s tag began appearing all over train trestles and highway overpasses the last two years, not far from Weinberg’s home.

They knew their nemesis was a cop. Numerous tipsters confided that Neo once wore a badge, and detectives uncovered a faceless photograph of Neo online, back to the camera, wearing an NYPD raid jacket, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, Neo was almost taunting investigators. Without identifying himself by name, the aging vandal gave a lengthy interview to the underground graffiti Web site SubwayOutlaws.com in which he bragged about his time as Neo and identified himself as a cop and “a cripple.”
Weinberg, who uses a cane, wasn’t hard to track down once his name finally surfaced.

Cops found “numerous e-mails” talking about Weinberg’s “graffiti-related activities,” as well as Neo’s MySpace page, which had comments revealing the ex-cop’s birth date. A search warrant executed at Weinberg’s home on Sanford Avenue turned up “additional evidence,” sources said.

“The evidence recovered led to ‘Neo’ being identified as Mr. Steven Weinberg,” read a memo sent by a transit sergeant to the bureau’s chief.
Weinberg was arrested at his home on Aug. 3, 2010, and charged with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor making graffiti and possessing a graffiti instrument.
Grilled by detectives, Weinberg reportedly confessed to at least one crime — tagging the walls of the Clearview Expressway in May 2009.

Full story here.

Source: Revok1

After a long battle with cancer the New York City computer rock wildstyle graffiti king, Case 2 passed away earlier today. RIP Case 2.

Source: Remi Rough

The professional skateboarder Chad Muska was arrested last night for graffiti. He was caught by security guards in Hollywood early in the morning, apparently tagging several store fronts. The security guards apprehended him and held him till the police arrived. Muska is currently being held on $20,000 bail.

The Los Angeles graffiti artist Revok has an article about him published in the Wall Street Journal.

LOS ANGELES—To the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Revok is a renowned artist whose bright, sprawling work is worthy of display in its latest exhibit.

To the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Revok is Jason Williams, also known as inmate No. 2714221.

Last month, Mr. Williams was sentenced to 180 days in county jail as a result of a probation violation from a graffiti incident, just days after the opening of a major museum exhibit dedicated to “street art” that features his work. Unable to post his $320,000 bail, Mr. Williams sat in jail for four days before the sentencing.

It may be illegal on the street, but inside the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, a new exhibit celebrates the history of graffiti, featuring work by artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey. WSJ’s Tammy Audi reports.

Law-enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting graffiti artists with harsher sentences than ever, pushing for felony charges, real prison time and restitution payments as they seek to wipe graffiti from the streets. At the same time, the art world and corporations are embracing the form like never before.”You can make a case that graffiti and street art is the most influential art movement since the great innovations of the ’60s,” says Jeffrey Deitch, director of the L.A. museum, known as MOCA. “Before this show, no American museum had ever done an ambitious historical exhibition.”

Law enforcement sees this as a historic moment as well: “This is really the first time in the history of law enforcement that we’re making significant gains on identifying who the [graffiti] taggers are, and building a case against them,” says Lt. Vince Carter, who heads the sheriff’s graffiti unit. “We’re in this war against graffiti and we’re doing everything to stop it.”

In years past, authorities usually didn’t go out of their way to prosecute the artists, most of whom use pseudonyms to protect their identities.

Now, law-enforcement officials in major cities around the country are sharing information, creating catalogs of graffiti work by artist. Police can use evidence of past vandalism to obtain search warrants, and “stack” charges to prosecute graffiti vandalism as a felony.

Shepard Fairey, the L.A.-based graffiti artist famous for his portrait of President Barack Obama, which hangs in the Smithsonian, was arrested in Boston in 2009 on his way to celebrate a museum exhibit of his work. Mr. Fairey was eventually charged with 30 felonies for putting stickers and posters on stop signs and guard rails. Mr. Fairey disputed the charges.

Most of the charges were dropped, but Mr. Fairey was sentenced to two years probation for misdemeanor vandalism and prohibited from carrying stickers in Boston, his attorney said.

Police worry that graffiti exhibits encourage vandalism. But graffiti’s popularity has also helped their cause, as once-elusive artists come out of the shadows. “I think when law enforcement can identify a well-known graffiti artist, then that artist will become a target,” says Ton Chi Nguyen, Mr. Williams’s lawyer. He says Mr. Williams “does not view himself as a tagger or a vandal. He views himself as an artist.”

The street-art show at The Geffen Contemporary—one of the facilities at MOCA—features a neon-painted ice-cream truck topped with a cigar-smoking clown head. It has drawn thousands of visitors.

Some graffiti artists sell their work at private galleries or online. Others are hired by corporations to design ad campaigns or special products. In some cases, they are hired to paint murals. The works of the street artist known as Banksy, who hides his identity, have produced international fame and led him to create an Oscar-nominated documentary. In 2008, Sotheby’s sold a painting by another artist “which Banksy has defaced” for $1.8 million. Adidas and Pepsi have hired graffiti artists to create designs and marketing campaigns for their products.

Mr. Williams may be the only prisoner in L.A.’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility previously commissioned by Levi’s to design a jacket. (On sale at the MOCA exhibit for $250).

Mr. Williams, 34, a prolific painter active in Los Angeles since the late 1990s, has said he wanted to be a graffiti artist since he was a teenager.

Last month in Los Angeles, he was arrested as he attempted to board a flight to Ireland, where he was hired to paint a mural. He was arrested on a warrant for violating the terms of his probation stemming from a 2009 vandalism incident in Los Angeles. Mr. Williams failed to report for community service picking up roadside trash and didn’t pay $3,500 restitution to cover the cost of removing the graffiti, his lawyer and sheriff’s department officials said.

Prior to his 2009 arrest, investigators had been on the trail of Revok for years. “I’m happy he’s been identified and captured, and now he has to pay for what he was doing,” says Randy Campbell, a retired California Highway Patrol Officer who now helps cities trying to fight graffiti.

Law enforcement officials say they are responding to community demands to combat graffiti. Police say they aren’t making a judgment on whether graffiti is art. As long it is painted on public property without permission, it’s a crime. Los Angeles spends $10 million a year to scrub the stuff off walls.

“These vandals don’t have any respect for property,” Mr. Campbell says. He added that Mr. Williams’s work “was half-way decent. It was big puffy letters, multiple colors, nice shadowing.”

Lt. Carter, the Sheriff Department’s antigraffiti guru, says that “out of curiosity” he went to the MOCA show where he was struck by the sight of a decommissioned municipal bus painted over by an artist named Risk. “Now people are going to see that bus and want to write something on some other bus. That’s my job to stop that graffiti on that bus,” he said.

As for the artistic merits of the rest of the show: “I refrain from passing judgment.”

Write to Tamara Audi at: tammy.audi@wsj.com

Source: wsj.com, Known Gallery

The graffiti writer known as Revok, whose work is displayed in the “Art in the Streets” exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, was sentenced Monday to 180 days in jail after a judge found that he had violated the terms of his probation in a previous vandalism conviction, court officials said.

Jason Williams, 34, also known as Revok, appeared in a Van Nuys courtroom Monday where he was found to have violated his probation on a misdemeanor vandalism charge by failing to pay adequate restitution to his victims, according to prosecutors.

Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport last Thursday as he prepared to board a plane for Ireland.

His arrest came amid controversy surrounding the museum’s “Art in the Streets” graffiti and street art exhibition, which the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have criticized as promoting vandalism and tagging.

Sheriff’s investigators said they are conducting a wide investigation into Revok.

Read More of the article at LA Times.

#FREEREVOK

The Los Angeles graffiti writer Revok was arrested as he prepared to board a plane to Ireland at Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.

Jason Williams, a.k.a. Revok, was taken into custody Thursday for an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to pay restitution, according to sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker.

Authorities claim Revok is a member of the graffiti crew Mad Society Kings, or MSK. Officials from the sheriff’s department were notified that there was an outstanding warrant against Revok for failure to repay victims of previous vandalism incidents.

Revok is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $320,000 bail.

Source: LA Times
Photo Source: UK Street Art

Mayor Rob Ford came face-to-face with one of the Toronto graffiti artists worried his work will be erased by City Hall’s new war on graffiti. The graffiti artist Elicser stopped to talk with Ford as the mayor left the 20-minute Makeover cleanup outside Fairbanks Memorial Community Centre.

“I think he should understand every aspect of what (graffiti) is,” Elicser told reporters afterwards. “If we could all come together, have a little understanding that people have to grow as artists, you have to give them room to grow as artists. “If you blank the whole city out and make it grey, no one is going to be inspired to do anything.”

The Mayor Rob Ford owed to eradicate graffiti across Toronto. Will he actually listen?

Read more of the article with Elicser in the Toronto Sun.

Is it art or vandalism? Currently murals in the city of Los Angeles are considered illegal. The woman in the video was issued a fine for having a mural painted on her fence. She’s been ordered to have the mural removed or she’ll be issued an even larger fine.

Source: Revok’s Blog

The daughter of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards appeared in a New York court on Wednesday after being arrested for spraying graffiti on a building and drug possession.

Theodora Richards, 25, was taken into custody Tuesday night after plainclothes officers spotted her using an acrylic paint marker to spray the letters “T” and “A,” with a heart symbol in between them, on the side of a building in New York’s trendy Soho neighborhood, police said.

Richards, the daughter of Richards and former model Patti Hansen, was also charged with unlawfully possessing marijuana as well as a controlled substance, which police say they believe to be hydrocodone, a prescription pain killer.

Richards was arraigned on Wednesday afternoon in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. She turned down an offer from prosecutors of two days worth of community service and one day of substance abuse classes. No plea was entered and she was released without any bail.

She is due back in court on April 21.

Source: Spinner