Rip Cronk is a legend in Venice, with his famous murals adorning many walls around town. It was with great delight that I saw his newly restored Homage To A Starry Night gleaming and fresh on my morning walk at the Boardwalk. It had been marred by some very low-level tagging, wrecking what has been a popular photo op tribute to Van Gogh in Venice since 1990.
I was also pleased to see Mr. Cronk there on the other side of the building doing touch-ups to his 2004 work Venice Beach Chorus Line, which always reminds me of the old Aardvark store on Pacific for some reason.
See, the thing is, I'm all for paint on every wall in Venice - but GOOD paint. The Graffiti Walls are there for people to learn and hone their craft. Once you get good enough, you might be offered big walls to adorn. People pay for those big pieces to be done, and artists have earned the right to be paid and display their work for all to see. They become landmarks. They become history. No one has the right to paint over any bit of it ... imagine going into a museum and spray painting over a big painting! Same thing. It's respect. Earn yours, and show it to others until you get there yourself.
Seriously.
Thank you to Mr. Cronk for re-beautifying our neighborhood!
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