Last month, the decade-old Joe Strummer tribute that was painted on the side of an East Village bar was completely buffed by workers doing renovations according to EV Grieve. It was originally painted outside of Niagara on the corner of East 7th Street and Avenue A by legendary graffiti artists REVOLT and ZEPHYR in 2003, a year after The Clash frontman died from heart troubles. And now it’s being repainted, again, by REVOLT, again.
He began work on the mural a few days ago and is basically done. “I tried to get out, but they just sucked me right back in,” says REVOLT, “Executive Vice President For Life” of the Rolling Thunder Writers, one of NYC’s most storied graffiti crews. Not surprisingly, passers-by aren’t too familiar with graffiti history and assume that anytime a wall is being done in the East Village, it’s the work of Chico. “People ask me if I’m Chico and I say, ‘yeah i’m Chico!'”
(Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)
