“The Keith Haring mural that has stood at Houston and Bowery streets since April is a tribute, an anniversary gift, and a historical re-creation,” writes Erica Orden of The NY Sun. “As of last week, it is also a battleground.”
Why a battleground, you ask? “Last Friday, under the late morning sunshine, an artist named Angel Ortiz added thickets of graphic black lines in the spaces between Haring's original green and black figurines. His was no random act of vandalism,” continues Orden.
“Mr. Ortiz, who goes by the nickname LA II, was an early collaborator of Haring's, working closely with the artist between 1980 and 1986. He has been credited by Haring in John Gruen's Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography with advancing the Pop artist's creative development, and has been called Haring's "silent partner.
“In recent years, however, Mr. Ortiz has broken his silence. Mr. Ortiz's additions to the East Village mural are now the latest chapter in a nearly 20-year dispute over artistic license, credit, and propriety.”
The image below is of work that LAII installed at Woodward Gallery's Project Space on Eldridge Street in New York a few days ago. Sweet.
Intrigued? You should be. Read the entire story online here.

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