You've likely seen these flexing, amorphous figures around on various buildings, construction sites, sidewalk cellar doors and at least two USPS trucks in recent weeks.
Here's just a sampling from the past week-plus...
People recall first seeing these in early to mid January...
The figures are growing in popularity, at least among a few Instagram users who have referred to the character as Super Girl (or Supergirl) and Power Puff Girl. We don't know who the identity of the artist, but the person calls these figures Stargirl.
The spray-painted drawings are pretty consistent — a smile, flexing arms and a star on the belly. Sometimes she is alone. Other times in packs. She has been spotted on the Lower East Side. We've had a sighting via a reader on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. We haven't spotted many, if any, east of Avenue B...
Once she did the splits...
Several times the name Gwen appeared nearby...
The photos of these on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place are from late January. They've been painted over.
But there will be many more, no doubt.
36 comments:
Not at all cool to be so widespread. Actually, it sucks. And on signs and USPS trucks? I hope this person gets his or hers.
The idea or look of StarGirl is fun - but not the destruction of property
USPS ! Con Ed, the nice brick building with a little arch, etc.
That's just plain wrong - why not just stick to construction plywood.
Tagging a plywood wall is one thing, but spray painting on brick and vehicles? You're a jerk.
Artist? No a filthy vandal that should be forced to paint the businesses and postal truck he or she ruined. Not cute or amusing at all. Seems like the work of a mentally ill that should be arrested. I am sure you won't print this since you are enamored with this village miscreant.
Yeah, it's too much. Not charming anymore.
On the Parks sign is particularly disrespectful.
I've been seeing them around. I also agree - NOT ON THE BRICK son!
Whoever is doing this please seek help immediately. The scale, monotony, design, and disregard to century plus old brick surfaces tells us that you are not a terrible artist but not a well person. They must be stopped for their sake and the neighborhoods. (no irony intended).
I think this is super cute...
This thread is NYC now - everyone sees property values before art.
i love the star girl so much!!!
who ever is doing it please don’t stop!!!!! ❤️
All commenters above me are cops
Not sure why the need to publicize this destruction of private property. On the heels of the story about tagging The Merchant House, I'm sorry to see the dick-head responsible for this work getting the attention they are seeking. I'm old enough to remember when graffiti was interesting, or even revolutionary. Now? Mostly tired and lame. Please think twice before so much publicity is given to these people.
Pretty cool until you see the porr people that have to clean it offf the window of the old gotham pizza in the cold, of the bricks with wet materials in the cold, gives you a new persepctive. Scaffolding is all fair game!
I agree with 2ndAveSilverPanther...this is not art...it is a selfish "artist" who is imposing their "art" on our neighborhood and getting just what they want-publicity. It is vandalism. It is a crime. It is yet further evidence that the EV and NYC are declining fast. Let's all report graffiti to Graffiti-Free NYC and clean up the walls of the East Village! https://edc.nyc/program/graffiti-free-nyc
Anonymous @ 2/28/20...Your comment is NYC now - too many regard their masturbatory impulses as totally justifiable, or even art.
Just adding my voice to those who think the defacer is a defacer.
What is art? That question has been asked for centuries, when it doesn't happen on your building you might think it's cool and shows how much of an anarchist you are but our blocks are not filled with hollowed out buildings the way it was in the late 70's through most of 80's any longer. Yes I was here then. If you want to make a statement make it about corporate landlords forcing us out of our homes, retail blight, or the ever ignored homeless and drug problems we have. Painting childish shit on peoples home and businesses is a dick move, period.
... marking territory ...
It's just vandalism of people's homes and businesses. Why promote it here? This just encourages more of it.
This is vandalism, pure and simple. Nothing to celebrate about it, and for those whose property has been defaced, it's damned expensive and disruptive to PAY someone to remove some jerk-off's spray paint from bricks and glass. STOP VANDALIZING NYC, jackasses!
PS: Art? This is NOT art. It's puerile vandalism, hiding under the concept of "cutesy".
Another example of graffiti the city does nothing about. Sad.
So when Keith Haring did the exact same thing, it was art, but this is vandalism? My, how times have changed.
to you it might not but to others it is
vandalism. period.
I was reluctant to post a response but I am quite happy to see most posts are in agreement with my thoughts. As a really long time owner of a house in the neighborhood I have had my share of vandalism. It is no fun walking out my front door never knowing what I would be faced with that morning. Sad that I have to keep a ready supply of aerosol graffiti remover, wire brushes, etc. I have always felt it best to do your best to remove it as quickly as possible, otherwise it is like a cancer that just keeps multiplying. Again, thank so many of you for saying vandalism is the only word for it, a violation of private property, even trespassing. I like to believe Karma will catch up to anyone who does this, it helps get me through my anger!
Love these — keep 'em coming please! (And happy to see so many other people share my sentiments! StarGirl has many fans on Instagram.
In 1993 when they filmed parts of the Joe Pesci movie "The Super" on my block, in an effort to make it look even more decrepit than it already did the film crew copiously tagged the unpainted brick front of our building, which is almost directly across the street from the tenement to which Pesci's character was condemned to reside, because it was in the sight line of the cameras. Bad tags, too - stupid swirls and circles, done hastily and all in high-gloss black. When filming ended they left without bothering to clean it up, leaving that to us to do. Despite all of our efforts, we could not get all the paint out, and to this day I can still see faint squiggles and concentric rings on them, all courtesy of that shitty movie. All to say, paint in brick is a damn hard thing to eradicate, and it often doesn't work.
I loved the book Stargirl as a kid. Maybe it’s a homage to the character in the book?
To every poster screaming "this is vandalism!":
Go back to Ohiotucky or wherever your from! You came here for diversity and a true vibrant culture and now your complainin? You take the bad with the good! Sure sometimes something gets tagged that shouldnt but overall nyc benifits from street culture in ways im sure you will never understand! And dont forget graf culture is the voice of the disinfranchized and marginalized, a voice against sestemic injustice! If you think graf is vandalizing maybe its just your privilage getting in the way?
saw one tonight on an ave A basement trap door. bleh, quantity over quality. after a certain number of iterations shit starts to feel corporate.
Don't people have real lives with jobs to go to so bills can be paid? Really? Vandalism is not cute. It's annoying AF.
Just what we needed, another no-talent, self-deluded, wannabe street artist vandal.
I didn't even notice these things until EV Grieve posted this mile-long collection of snapshots. (Next time, a simple photomontage will do, thank you.) Now of course I’m seeing them everywhere. And that’s the point: you choose whether or not to look at (and for) these things, and you also choose how you react, so you can also choose to just ignore them.
There are much more offensive things to look at in this city, like the guy taking up three seats by man-spreading on the subway train, like all of the Houston Street Horridor-style buildings and their new occupants, like the ugly electric delivery bikes and block-long Citibike docking stations, like the rat eating pizza in Tompkins Square Park, but you can choose not to look at them.
Unlike Coronavirus, Stargirl is not going to magically disappear in the Spring, especially now that she is getting so much attention, and neither are all the other random tags, stickers and graffiti on every blank surface, but with a little mind control you can easily ignore them.
Whatever you do. just don't become one of those perpetually angry people who gets so annoyed by flyers posted on lampposts that they cannot help themselves from ripping them all down. Just ignore them.
How a bout Stargirl reveals herself, we find out where she lives, and do the same thing to her house/apt/room?
This is ART. Looking forward to seeing more of this around the way!
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