Cardboard pizza king Herman Cain may have suspended his presidential campaign amidst mounting allegations he liked to tomcat around, but that doesn't mean he isn't subject to parody in the form of street art. more ›

The notion that graffiti is an artistic expression has remained largely underground, but in the social media age where access to people with similar interests is readily available, this has started to change. more ›

Considering Pioneer Court's security cameras, the statue's proximity to the NBC 5 and WGN-AM radio studios and the crowds surrounding the Monroe statue since its unveiling, we're surprised it was tagged at all. more ›

Look, we all appreciate street art. Even 1st Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno, the new go-to graffiti blasting quotesman, has said it’s not street art qua street art he’s against, it’s the destruction of property aspect of it all. Whatever. If arting on a wall is destroying it, we have bigger problems. The fact is, Chicago’s infamous war on graffiti has only entrenched this city’s street art credentials. The biggest threat to street art is street art itself. Gimmicky and hypocritical marketing techniques, like those used this week by the Maxwell Colette Gallery and Pawn Works to pump up tonight’s Gaia show, aren’t just taking the “street” out of street art, they’re taking away the fun. more ›

A question came to our inbox today, from a reader named Megan: more ›

Chicago murals may have their spiritual home in Hyde Park and Pilsen, but North Side neighborhoods aren’t slacking. This week we visited Living 2007, the three-year-old bricolage (a multi-media art work) on the viaduct at Bryn Mawr and Lake Shore Drive. more ›

Pilsen is gaining traction in Chicago as an arty neighborhood, with popular events like the 2nd Fridays Gallery Night (next one is April 9!). But the neighborhood itself is practically an outdoor museum, concrete and brick walls splashed with paint everywhere you look - and some places you might not think to look. With Spring upon us, we thought we'd make some suggestions on how to spend an afternoon in this colorful neighborhood. (And don't forget to bring your camera and add your photos to the Chicagoist Flickr Pool). more ›

If you walked by the Art Institute’s Modern Wing earlier this week, you might have wondered if they were promoting a new exhibit on street art. Bright graffiti stretched for 50 feet along a light stone wall, bookended by the words “Modern Art” and “made you look.” While Chicagoist in no way condones illegal activity of any sort, we have to admit that this graffiti raises some interesting questions about the accessibility of art. It’s unlikely the tagging was gang-related, and it seems to be a pre-meditated, self-referential joke about art. more ›

Chicagoist Flickr Pool contributor Curtis Locke (a.k.a. Find a City To Live In) captured and shared some great shots of street art in the city's Lower West Side. more ›

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The Obama Art Report contacted Fuss to get his explanation of the controversial piece. His response:

This is not a piece of work against Obama, as much as it is not an act of support for McCain. Neither is this work about less or more probable Obama's assassination. This piece of art is about global thought of Obama's unavoidable death. About the fact that so many people in the entire world share one opinion: Barack Obama is to follow the same story as Kennedy, Lincoln, M.L.King or Malcolm X previously did. And this is due to various reasons: cause he is young, alike Kennedy, cause his black, because he is ready for the radical change. Politicians fall into the same stereotype of thinking. Even Hillary Clinton expressed the same view. more ›

We'll never see another abandoned mattress without wishing someone would spray paint cassette features on it.
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Chicagoist is home to some hearty discussions about whether or not illegal street graffiti can be considered “art." It’s so customary to associate graffiti with vandalism, as soon as artists completed a commissioned graffiti-style mural on the exterior walls of The Ashland bar in West Lakeview, the complaints from area residents started rolling in. more ›

Last month's murder of artist Brendan "Solve" Scanlon left the street art community reeling, and impromptu memorials popped up all over the city. One of Brendan's friends, commenter This Is Awkward, is organizing a more formal, permanent memorial as part of the mural along the Bloomingdale Trail. She writes, more ›

Brendan "Solve" Scanlon's funeral is Saturday in Madison, but he's being memorialized all over the city already with RIP Solve messages. Here are a few of them along with some Solve pieces up around the city. more ›

We're always on the lookout for weird or cool Abraham Lincoln stuff. more ›

Varut Subchareon, 19, is facing felony charges after police caught him spray painting in Roscoe Village. Subchareon then told police of approximately 20 other tags he'd sprayed in the neighborhood, including one on Park District property. Police say the tags arent' gang related but all look exactly the same. He's been charged with criminal damage to state-supported property. more ›

At this point, most of us have graduated from decorating the walls of our humble abodes with the typical college posters of yesteryear. The dilemma then becomes a matter of how to display our personal sense of artistic style without succumbing to the availability of “artwork” sold at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, and without dropping vast amounts of money at the River North galleries or the summertime street art festivals. more ›

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum more ›

A few weeks ago we wondered where our Obey/Obama posters were. Behold this poster, from Shepard Fairey, he of the Obey Giant creation: more ›

The police officer who beat the shit out of a female bartender last year? Well, some sticker fan in the West Loop does. more ›

First there was the America-as-speaker stencil. And now there's an Obama "O" (inset) in this stencil (captured by JoeM500). Can an Obey Obama be far behind? more ›

JoeM500 has us thinking about what our 2008 photo resolutions are going to be. more ›

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,... more ›

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they... more ›

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches... more ›

Phantom Hidden, by ninjagrl more ›

Since moving to the city, we've spotted many displays of bizarre, tongue-in-cheek, or mildly touching graffiti. We've noticed this one around town before, but Flickr user swanksalot captured it for posterity's sake. Being the sad saps that we are, we tend to adore the love-centered street art/graffiti. What about you? Are there any slightly illegal displays of art around town that you are particularly drawn to?... more ›

As the world holds its breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans... more ›

As 2006 ends and 2007 begins, the -ists look back not at the past week, but at the past year. So here it is, your Best of 2006 Spectacular. And from all of us at the -ists, happy New Year! Austinist was all about controversy as new construction to increase urban density ran rampant in 2006, as did threats to the city's image from gigantic corporations looking to set up shop in town, leading... more ›