A graffiti writer hailing from France and wanted by authorities in two states, was arrested in early December at Newark Airport, as he was preparing to fly back to Paris, where he has a criminal record for painting stuff. And that’s how they caught him here. Read more »
The NYPD may not be cool with putting boobies on display in Times Square, but there was a pretty big victory for First Amendment rights this week in the city of Boston. Read more »
The feds finally caught up to James “Whitey” Bulger, an infamous, old school Irish-American mobster from Boston whose been on the run for almost two decades. He was arrested on Wednesday in Santa Monica. The FBI is celebrating with an update to their Ten Most Wanted Fugitives webpage and a downloadable “Captured” poster with three age-adjusted images of the the legendary crime boss. Btw, when discussing Jimmy, there must be a mention of him inspiring Martin Scorsese’s hit movie, The Departed. Bonus audio of his distinct Bahston accent can be heard here, talking very highly of “cough syrup.”
Globetrotting graffiti writer UTAH is heading back to jail for another six months. Recently released from vegan unfriendly Riker’s Island, the Queens-based writer was sentenced this morning in Boston Municipal Court after pleading guilty to more than a dozen vandalism charges. According to the Boston Herald, she was also ordered to complete five years of probation, undergo a mental health evaluation and make restitution payments. And like convicted vandal Shepard Fairey, the 27-year-old vandal was ordered to stop messing with Boston, except she’s been banished entirely. |Boston Herald|
Photo by Jaroh
Today in Boston, artist Shepard Fairey plead guilty to vandalism charges: three misdemeanors from 2000 and January. As part of a plea deal, the prolific public artist must pay $2000 to a local graffiti clean-up group and serve two years probation. During that time he can’t possess posters, paint, paste, stickers or other tools of the trade unless he is working on a permission piece. But as Fairey noted, “Fortunately, I’m at a place in my career where I can get sanctioned spaces,” like billboards, to continue flaunting his art in Boston. Read more »
Returning to the city that’s persecuting him, DJ Diabetic, aka Shepard Fairey, will spin records for OBEY Experiment REDUX, a party at ICA Boston with Z-Trip and Chuck D. General admission is $35, but buy $125 tickets and you can “hang out with Shepard Fairey in the exclusive VIP lounge, where you’ll enjoy an open bar and light food” during the two hours its open on July 31st.
14 vandalism charges were dropped against Shepard Fairey because Boston prosecutors had no evidence to prove he was the one responsible for pasting up the publicly available imagery. But the lack of “witnesses or property owners who could say who posted the images,” isn’t stopping prosecutors from pressing forward with 13 other vandalism charges against the ‘Hope’ making street artist. |Boston|
Artist Shepard Fairey made his way through Boston Courts today, facing charges for allegedly pasting up his street art. To make matters worse, the “city of culturally clueless Puritans” brought new vandalism charges against Fairey, though his lawyer contends the artist was out of town at the time they occurred. Tomorrow, the artist continues pretrial hearings in Roxbury and Brighton District Courts and will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court after “paperwork glitches” created delays today.
Mugshot from Fairey’s arrest in Boston via NEJAR
On Saturday, Caleb Neelon, an artist known as Sonik, the editor of Swindle and a Cambridge native, spoke at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art about why prosecuting Shepard Fairey is bad for the city, likening the effort to the early censorship of now-celebrated artists such as Walt Whitman.
People laugh at Boston for being a city of culturally clueless Puritans, and because of that, business that depends on an audience to the contrary, avoids Boston. This arrest has renewed our subscription to this unfortunate perception.
As an example of the opportunity Boston missed by digging up and dumping old charges on Fairey, Neelon pointed to Los Angeles, where Fairey executed a mural for the launch of “Stages,” a global art exhibition to raise funds and cancer awareness for the Livestrong Foundation.
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