Painted Walls

Painted walls

My research and site visits surrounding the three recent New York City tragedies mentioned in the previous chapter has brought me into contact with countless finished memorial murals. This section will explore some of the walls that stood out to me most and how I attempted to organize my thoughts on them.

Memorial murals come in every shape, size, theme, and color-scheme. Some are religious, others are political, and still others are violent. Depending on who is being memorialized and who undertakes the mural’s creation, the walls can look and feel very different. Some walls are commissioned by gang leaders and some are done by the deceased’s family. One could cut and organize the city’s hundreds of memorial murals in endless different ways. As I tried to classify the different walls, the first grouping that made sense was old/new. The murals made in the late eighties and early nineties were a part of a movement and as they stand peeling today, I figured that they affect communities very differently than fresh, still-painful ones. When I broke down the differences between old and new murals even further, it made sense to think of them as active or inactive. My logic stemmed from my observations that some murals seem relatively ignored while others (newer ones) are paid more attention to, with community members occasionally lighting candles or placing flowers by them. But the deeper I considered memorial murals, the less and less my organizations of them made sense. Aren’t all murals walked past? How would one judge which ones have the largest impact? Is their magnitude and/or type of impact even a relevant question? The answer, of course, was no. Assessing the impact of memorial murals in the communities that house most of them is an impossible task. Furthermore, categorizing them is futile. As was so often the response when I asked family, friends, community members, organizers, or artists what the significance of these walls is, I was missing the point.

When I asked a friend of Sean Bell’s and a community activist, Jugga, about the role that memorial murals play in Jamaica he answered, “it isn’t about memorial murals.” What was this “it?” Jugga and his group, “Project Pick Me Up,” painted the first of what will surely be many memorials for Sean Bell.

Sean Bell’s first memorial mural in Jamaica, Queens. His face can be found in the trunk of the tree on the far left of the mural.

What I had originally thought of as “old” or “passive” memorial murals littered Trap’s neighborhood—indeed, they can be found in great numbers throughout the South Bronx at large. In the course of my research I have come across dozens of artists who have painted memorial walls-Sidney Janis, Anthony Clark (A-One), John Matos (Crash), Michael Tracey, Jean Michel Basquiat (SAMO), Mitchel 1, Paul Tschinkle, Chico, Tito Ortiz, Lady Pink, De La Vega, Randall Barquero (Dragon), and A Charles to name a few.

The Controversial White Boy Memorial on Southern Boulevard and St John’s in Hunts Point.

TATS Cru painted the above mural for White Boy John, who was killed in crossfire at the age of nineteen. White Boy’s mother provided the information for the mural; she wanted the wall to be used as a tool to teach about the realities of urban violence in Hunts Point. The community, however, did not find the wall as useful as she would have hoped. They criticized the massive image for glorifying thug life and even called TATS CRU into their community board meeting where Nicer says they got “railed on.” He suggested to me, “there is a problem, but it’s not our painting.”

Memorial for a 20 year old Puerto Rican in Hunts Point, the Bronx.

TATS CRU also painted this mural for Alberto Silverio, known as Bertolucci, What was a vibrant wall in 1992 has fallen into disrepair today, but the effect of this strong image has only changed, not vacated entirely.

Tommy’s memorial on Selwyn Avenue in the Highbridge.

The above memorial in Highbridge commemorates Tommy Gunz, who died at the age of nineteen. Tommy’s best friend recounted how, when the two of them were riding on their four-wheelers one night, Tommy was hit by a taxicab and riding just ahead of him, his friend had no idea what happened. Tommy was loved deeply in the neighborhood. The holes in the wall house candles that burn twenty-four hours a day. Tommy’s friends say that whenever the candles burn out, someone immediately lights them, whether they are friends, family, or just neighbors. The wall was done for free and depicts what Tommy was wearing the night of his death.