Week 9 - Lady Pink

One of my favorite artists out of those who presented was the artist Sandra Fabrera, who goes by the name Lady Pink. I thought it was really cool that she represented and built her reputation as a female graffiti artist on the streets of NY. Especially crucial is that she paved the way for other women and girls of color to find power and inspiration from an underground profession that is often considered belonging only to men.

Pink's art piece, The Death of Graffiti, painted in 1982 I think powerfully represents the violence that comes along with gentrification and how it is tied to a contestation over public space, such as with trains and subways. The image depicts a nude girl, standing on a pile of various spray paint cans used for tagging, pointing to the two subway trains passing by. On the right hand side is a completely white washed train car and the left side is a car that is tagged with colorful artwork with the words "Seen Pink." The wall to the right of the girl is forming this divide between the graffiti painted car and the white washed car. However, the angling of the girl and where shes pointing gives me the sense that the graffiti painted car will soon cross the boundary and become white washed as well.

This depiction I feel speaks volumes to what gentrification means and how it is often used as a tool to silence artistic resistance of people of color, especially because graffiti art is criminalized and policed for not following white hegemonic standards of art production. As spaces become redefined by the white people who move into urban neighborhoods, not only do people of color become displaced but a new imposition of what is considered public beautification and "appropriate" public expression takes hold. And as prior community owned paces are replaced with privatized buildings, communities of color suffer the loss of economic liberty and artistic expression.