New York Judge awards $6.7 Million to 21 Graffiti Artists
I saw in the news today that a NY Judge has awarded $6.7 Million to 21 Graffiti artists for Destroyed Murals
The murals were at the 5pointz complex in Queens, and in this post I will share some shots I took of this area back in 2013.
On Monday the Brooklyn Judge ruled that a real estate developer who whitewashed dozens of graffiti murals at the 5 points buildings violated the visual artists rights act which apparently has been used to protect public art of a recognized nature created on someone else’s property.
From what I have read the owner bought the property in the 1970’s for $1 Million and was approached but the artists in the 1990s to request permission to display their art on the vacant 5 story building and the owner agreed
In 2002 one artist started curating the area, the idea being that artists were welcomed to come and paint in the area with the understanding it could be painted over at some stage but if the work was amazing it would stay on display for longer.
In Nov 2013 the owner decided to demolish the site and build new stores and apartments, however by then 5Pointz was well known graffiti are site and had a lot of followers and tourists who would visit there regularly.
The owner had painters come in and whitewash over all the decades of graffiti art work in the night hours in the hope of avoiding conflict.
When this was done there was quite an uproar in the city with many feeling doing the whitewashing in the cover of night was artistic murder and reprehensible.
A group of the artists banded together and filed the lawsuit, part of the argument seems to be that if appropriate notice had been given some of the art could have been saved or moved or at the least well documents with photographs and video.
In November of 2017 a civil jury found that the developer had violated the Visual Artists Rights Act in 45 Cases and this led to the Judges ruling this week awarded a $6.7 Million award to the 21 Artists.
I could see quite a mixed reaction to this award, from agreeing with the award to feeling the owner was within his right to do what he wished with his property
What are your thoughts on this, do you feel the award to the artists is a fair decision.
I personally am of mixed opinion, I do feel the owner should have the right to develop the property and not have it sitting vacant and being used but he 5Pointz artists ( also bearing in the mind the artists used to collect money from people who wanted to enter the complex)
However I do also feel that the owner should have given the artist notice since he had given permission for the graffiti artist to paint there
I was blown away by the quality of some of the art in the area and the following shots are some of my favorites I saw there
Please note these are just a few of my photos of the graffiti art that was at 5Pointz and this is only a very small portion of all the art that was there.
Unless stated otherwise all photos used in my posts are taken and owned by myself, if you wish to use any of my images please contact me.
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Amazing graffiti painting, what paintings, in one building?
i think it was a few buildings in the complex but the art was amazing
Great story ...worthy of typo edit ...
Oops I must go check for typos
I am bad for doing typos
same here... really great story...
Thanks I think I fixed the typos :)
Wow!!! Those graffitis were awesome 👍 so now they are all totally gone??? I know you said demolished, but just wanted to make sure
Your pictures tho 👍👍👍👍 I just love the sharp color and whatnot
Yes they’re all gone painted over initially and then demolished
My style of editing has sure changed since 2013 but I clearly still liked vivid colors then lol
good post, I like.
That’s some amazing street art, but I am in favor of protecting people’s property rights. Its a slippery slope when property rights don’t mean anything. It’s a shame the owner couldn’t have worked some of it into the redevelopment. That would have been pretty cool.
Yes I do see and tend to agree to your idea keeping and including some of the art would have been brilliant I think
As awesome as the graffiti is, I tend to lean toward the owner being within his rights to do what he wished with his property. If he wasn't suppose to remove the art, it should have been a condition of the sale.
Yes I do see that side as well
Great post! Did you see how the place looks like now?
Totally washed out!
Yes I saw it just a couple of weeks ago from the train
Sad to see
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Eso es un arte muy llamativo! me gusta. Saludos amigo, buenas noches.
😎👍😎
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OMG this is amazing i love good graffiti , super cool vivid colors and everything to go along with it. wish i coould have seen this in person, LA has alot of cool places i could explore local to get a fix hehe.
It’s such a shame all this art disappeared overnight the talent was incredible
Get some shots of the art there and share 😎
NOM NOM NOMMITYNOM!
Nommitty nom nom
Darn...whoever destroyed all that amazing work deserves to have to pay! Giving you a resteem!
I do agree such a shame to see it disappear overnight was so shocking
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I've never seen a place with that much graffiti. At some point graffiti becomes more art than just tagging random places in my mind. Tagging a train car is far different then an entire building being covered in graffiti as a giant piece of art. Glad they got awarded the money. It's a loss of something great knowing all these colors are gone now.
I don’t like the tagging as such on bridges etc
But art like this takes talent and it’s a shame they are all gone
Wow! That's a tricky situation. How about just talking to each other? A property owner should be able to do what they want with the property, but has to take tenants and community into consideration. Those artists were almost like tenants, and to erase that much art without warning? Not cool.
Yes I agree this could have be handled so much better
I think the owner made a huge mistake with the middle of the night white wash
I didn't know Meres won the lawsuit! You and I are on the same wavelength again as I shared a image from 5 Pointz a few days ago!
I NEVER would have thought they'd win the lawsuit as the little guy always loses.
Thanks for sharing!
Yes I was surprised that they won
But I doubt they will ever see a cent I am sure the company will appeal and drag it out for years
That's true. We'll see what happens!
will be interesting to see if we hear any more
Such a shame they were just whitewashed without notifying the community and artists! Your photos are fantastic!
Thanks kindly
And yes that was shameful I believe
Wow, so that's all just gone now? Awesome you captured these shots when you did
Yes all gone and whitewashed I haven’t been past for a couple of months so not sure how much ch construction has taken place
And to answer your question, I can see both sides on this. On the one hand it didn't belong to the artists. On the other hand the foot traffic that was brought to the area because of the art is a form of value. Unless I was really bleeding money I would've left it. Owner made a mistake.
Well the buildings were empty other than the graffiti artist so they foot traffic to the area did not help the owner
As far as I know the plan is to demolish and build new
Hmm well I see what you're saying then. To be clear I don't actually think those artists deserve any compensation. It wasn't their property. I can just understand why they'd be upset.
Ohh yes I understand why there upset as well and the owner should have handled it so much better
I think it’s a bit silly they had many years to “document” their work. They should not even been a claim at all.
They also did not own the canvas in which they painted on. I hope the owner brings it up to higher courts to overturn. They gained fame for being allowed to do it in the first place. Not to mention some of the “art” had the guys website advertising himself.
Courts these days have lost their minds. Everyone can use for everything and even when something is yours its not.
Yes I see you point
I think the owner could have handled it better but it was his property which they used for their art at no cost and with no expectations
Wow it look so great and colorful
The art was amazing for sure
Yeah I can see it.
Some amazing murals ! Really an interesting story as well and I think in the end the owner of the property could have solved it through good communication instead he went for a short cut that cost him. It's his property sure, but he allowed people to paint there, and they then invested 1000 of hours so I can understand the artist's anger
I can understand both sides and agree the owner should have handled this so much better
I have mixed feelings on graffiti art, but I will say that it looks like you have a pretty good collection of some of the work that was there.
I believe a "deal is a deal" and just because someone has a change of heart or chance at some cash they still need to live up to the agreement , so white washing it in the middle of the night I would consider as crossing the line of the agreement and it looks like the civil jury and the judge agreed as well. Was it worth $6.7 million ? Not to me , maybe $67.00 , but I am not a fan of graffiti to begin with; probably because most is done without the owners permission. I know that wasn't the case here so the value may actually have been that high, it will be interesting to see if the property owner appeals the award decision.
I to have mixed feelings
The owner should have handled it better and the overnight painting no doubt hurt him in the case
But I am also sure it will be appealed and dragged out for many more years
Again the lawyers will be the big winners here
Yes, and the part about the lawyers is absolutely correct, even the lawyer on the losing side of the case gets paid unless working on a percentage of the judgement or pro bono.
I did wonder if the Artist lawyer was on a commission based fee or not I couldnt find out but I was intrigued
That was some amazing colorful art up there! I am a fan of color in art and it helps to make it prominent and also add some color to otherwise dull concrete and paint.
I do agree that an artist should be compensated for such a loss, but I am no one to judge the figures which could be on the higher side especially if someone is paying for it from his pocket.
I see both sides here I think the owner messed up with n his overnight painting but the award seems unfairly High to me
I kind of have a mixed feeling about it. He had paid for the property and was within his rights to do what ever with his property. But he should have thought this before buying that property. He should have known that he was buying graffiti filled property and was filled with lots of hardwork.
Since the graffiti was done with the permission of previous owner he should have informed the artists about this so that they could have documented their work. At the same i don't feel like the owner should have been penalized that much. That is a huge amount of money. Anyhow the artists already knew the risk of losing their artwork.
I didn’t make it clear it was the same owner who agreed to letting the graffiti artist paint there who subsequently whitewashed over the art
I do see both sides and feel the owner didn’t do the right thing with the over night white wash
But I also feel the award is crazy high
I got little confused while reading and thought a new guy bought it and did the white washing. If this is the thing then the owner had got it done for free in the first place and he needed to pay.
That's impressive and shows the power of this contemporary form of art!
Isn’t it just
yup!
Fantastic post full of colors and imagination. :) Being in Poland is so cold and snowy. Your post reminds me my sunny colorful Panama :)
Hopefully spring and warm colors will be with us both soon
It's hard for me to say who is right and who is wrong in this case. In general, awarding money to artists (especially talented ones) is good, but I wonder where does the money come from? The graffiti drawings are awesome!
I agree the graffiti is awesome and I feel the owner messed up with the over night whitewashing
But the award seems crazy high to me
Man that just pees me off, these are such great art pieces, that took these artists time and love to make these, and it takes one whitewashed ignorant dude to wipe out a culture of decades of expressing the way they feel. Just as well you captured all of this, we still have it, you cant whitewash that, great stuff, your photography and passion is awesome, keep it up dude. Thumbs up always from me.
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Thanks I do feel for the artists in this case however although I feel the owner messed up with the whitewash without any notice I can see his side wanting. To make some money from his investment
I feel the artists deserved some compensation but not that much myself
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I do agree about the amount they were awarded, art is an expression, if I had to get paid from all the art I have done, crazy thought, but yet all famous artists make money when they die. so they are probably keeping to the tradition, all that graffitti died, they got paid. I now i have done my own graffitti and know it's gone. But paint has a way of flowing.
Yes that’s so very true also
Amazing! Yes I definitely think they deserve that amount! I wish I could be part of such a graffiti wall. That amount of money would not even be enough for the lost and undocumented art. At least they have received something and that is good enough.
Yes I can see a bit of both sides I. This case but it is such a shame this colorful art is gone forever
I must admit that some of the artwork is/was stunning. I can understand both sides of this story but I think that the situation could have been handled better and this large payout would not have been given out. If they had the agreement that it would be painted over or demolished at some point in the future then an agreement could have been made about the artwork before it became a conflict. The owner has the right to use the property as he sees fit, but if he had been reasonable and not painted it over during the night, and given the artists time to photograph or video their work for posterity, it may not have gone to court. s a result both parties are wrong.
Yes that’s how I feel
It was handled badly for sure by the owner but I think the award is also to high in my opinion
Interesting case. The property owner should have every right to do what he wants (unless there was a legal contract with the artists)... It sounds like a bit of communication could have avoided this lawsuit. Almost 7 Million dollars? Sounds a bit too much.... like the cost of the entire property itself haha. Ridiculous...
I agree this could have bene handed better by the owner, I do wonder what the property is worth now, he bought it initially for $1 Million
I agree with you. Owner has rights and artists should also get compensation but not 6,7 million That is absolutely NUTS. Maybe $100.000 per artist at most.
I am sure many artists would disagree but I tend to agree with you
Wow, there's some amazing art here. A shame that it's been destroyed. I do think the owner should be able to do what s/he wants to do, but still, not giving the artists notice is poor form.
Yes I do agree
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this is amazing news... contracts are powerful as is art
Indeed
😎👍😎
I personally think the owner of the buildings totally screwed himself out of money that could have been gained by the amount of rent he could have charged future tenants. What better way to be advertised by a business than to be located inside the buildings that held such famous art and already had people flocking to the place? He didn't think about that, apparently. We artists have different canvases; some prefer pencil and paper, some prefer paint or watercolors, some use a camera, some use digital image manipulation, some use spray paints on the side of buildings, some prefer painting a scene by describing them with the written word (like myself). I see both sides of the coin here, but I believe the owner could have turned it into more of a profit if he'd left the art on the buildings. That's what I would have done.
I do agree but the buildings as they were maybe could not not be used for the new plan but I do feel there should have been some way to keep the graffiti in the area and then would have had the lawsuit and expenses
Great story and shots, glad you were able to capture the artists' work, some awesome stuff there!
Thanks kindly my friend
reading this I too had mixed feelings........
But the owner could have made more money if he would have asked the ??????????? someone to help preserve the art..........while demolishing the buildings....One would think......
To think that no one would say anything to him by whitewashing the place in the middle of the night is just stupid and short-sighted of himself and his business of trying to make money.........
just my thoughts.........
Great thoughts and ones I do agree with I know he wanted to demolish to achieve his plans but he surely could have incorporated some of the art into the new building
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Thank you for taking the time to share this story, it's incredibly inspiring and I'm definitely going to study more in depth what goes on behind the scenes with graffiti