«This is the biggest loss in the history of graffiti»Laments Marie Flageul, spokesperson for 5 Pointz. In tears on Tuesday morning when she discovered the walls, on which we could still admire hundreds of works the day before, hastily covered with white paint. “It happened by surprise between 2 am and 6 am, the police had cordoned off the perimeter, we could not do anything.The owner, the developer Jerry Wolkoff, who wants to raze the building to make way for a luxury residential project, abruptly ended the fight that the artists waged to save the place.
Five pointz (like New York’s five boroughs) established itself twenty years ago as an epicenter of hip-hop culture, enabling thousands of graffiti artists and street -artists to exhibit legally. Beginner teens or internationally renowned artists like Tracy 168, Lady Pink or Tats Cru have made their mark here. Since 2002, Jonathan Cohen, 38, Meres One by his stage name, has been the curator of the place, which he runs like a museum, distributing the walls to artists and running an open-air exhibition of nearly 350 works. .
5 Pointz, November 9. Photo David Breger
From the beginning a deal existed between the 5 Pointz Aerosol Art center, managed by Meres One and the owner, Jerry Wolkoff, allowing artists to paint the walls with his permission “on the sole condition of not posting any pornographic or political message“. But in 2010, change of plans. Jerry Wolkoff has new real estate projects and announces that he wants to shave 5 Pointz. An outcome that seemed remote and improbable at the time, but which materialized on October 9, when the New York City Council gave the green light to a project of $ 400 million (290.5 million euros): the construction of two luxury residential towers of more than 40 floors, the rapid gentrification of Long Island City and the rise in rents certainly explain this choice. Jerry Wolkoff then announced that he wanted to reserve part of the new space for artists, a new deal that left them skeptical. “We will not let add another lifeless glass tower to New York and destroy our neighborhood, our community“, Meres One said yesterday.
With petitions and support committees, the resistance is engaged. Banksy himself, at the end of his month of residence in New York, concluded on his site with these few words: “Save 5 Pointz».
5 Pointz, November 9. Photo David Breger
In court, Meres One and his family tried, unsuccessfully, to bring into play the Visual Artists Rights Act, a law that protects the rights of artists, to obtain an injunction prohibiting the owner from touching the works. At the same time a procedure to have the site classified as a historic monument had been launched, collecting nearly 25,000 signatures. The collective was even considering buying the building with the help of private funds. So many initiatives remained in vain.
Today, only white remains as far as the eye can see. There, the community of artists, volunteers, fans and neighbors were in shock. “I still can’t believe it. Looks like a bad jokesays Kid Lew, graffiti artist, whose multicolored bees were still displayed on one of the exterior walls of the complex the day before. It is a piece of history that is disappearing. A place that has made the reputation of the district and attracts the whole world.“Designating the PS1 museum, annex of the Moma (Museum of Modern Art) ironically located a few dozen meters from 5 Pointz, the graffiti artist is ironic:” Here when people come, they say. What is this Moma next to 5 pointz? Not the opposite.Poem One, which has been written since 1979, asks itself: “Where will the young people go when this place no longer exists? Graffiti is illegal and it’s the only place in New York City that allows them to practice and learn the skills without breaking the law.»
On November 16, a demonstration to save 5 pointz. Photo David Breger
The 5 Pointz team quickly took over the space by sticking white panels to the walls on which everyone could express themselves. Moving tributes to the place, insults to the owner and cries of revolt at the method used.
Meres One, who paced back and forth all day answering interviews and questions from passers-by was inflamed: “In one night Jerry Wolkoff ruined twenty years of work. We compare graffiti to vandalism: but he is the real vandal! And we’re going to make him pay.He promises to take the owner to court.
Jerry Wolkoff also reacted in various American media recalling his attachment to the work of artists and justifying his act as a necessary evil: “It’s better for them and for me to repaint everything at once than to see the building destroyed bit by bit.»
If the destruction of the building seems inevitable, the last legal recourse for the artists of 5 Pointz, would be to bring into play the Visual Artists Rights Act again to obtain damages. According to Jeannine Chanes, the lawyer for the collective, they could claim up to 150,000 dollars (110,000 euros) per work destroyed.
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