Buildings as canvas

Shepard Fairey, a nationally known graffiti artist best known for his colorful Obama "Hope" poster, returned to his hometown two weeks ago and left his stamp on Eye Level Art -- a Spring Street arts venue.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Fairey and an assistant plastered a chunk of the concrete block building with paper images of a woman's partially covered face and several smaller motifs -- including his trademark Andre the Giant visage and the word "Obey."

Those are surely familiar to anyone who lived in Charleston in the 1990s. That's when Fairey, active on the city's skateboard scene, began stenciling them -- and putting stickers of them -- on just about anything that didn't move. It began here and spread to other cities, here and abroad.

Fairey's latest work came at the invitation of owner Mike Elder, who got permission from the building's owner.

But he didn't get the city's blessing. "I'm sure I'll be hearing something," Elder says. "I didn't arrange permission."

Elder says he put the project in motion several months ago by going to Fairey's website and inviting the artist to tag his store. He was both surprised and delighted when Fairey agreed.

"I experience him as the current-day Warhol," Elder says, referring to late 20th century pop artist Andy Warhol, who -- like Fairey -- morphed existing images into works of art.

Building murals have a long history in Charleston. While once common -- such as the faded one recently revealed on the corner store clapboards at St. Philip and Coming streets -- their recent history is more tortured.

A Charleston minister had to appear before the Board of Architectural Review in the mid 1990s after painting a mural near his President Street church. The city deemed it a violation, but it nevertheless lingered there quietly for years afterward. Around the same time, the city won a federal First Amendment lawsuit from the board's 1993 decision to order the removal of a colorful, cartoonish mural at 348 King St.

What's interesting about Fairey's work is how it's really just one of many murals that have cropped up quietly in this transitional neighborhood just north of the city's Old and Historic District.

Some -- such as the iconic Hominy Grill sign painted over the restaurant's clapboard siding -- have the city's blessing. Others may not.

From the sides of barbershops to sweetshops to corner stores, these works are not unattractive signs of life in a neighborhood still struggling with far more serious eyesores, such as abandoned and blighted buildings.

I'm as opposed as anyone to vandals' mindless spraypainted swirls, but when someone has enough skill and time, at what point should their work be welcomed? When the property owner agrees? When neighbors don't mind? When they don't contain colors or swear words that the average person would find offensive?

Admittedly, these are potentially difficult lines to draw, but should the city miss an opportunity to enliven its streets if it refuses to try?

Elder recognizes his Spring Street neighborhood is changing, and a mural like Fairey's might be considered less appropriate here in five or 10 years.

And that's fine: Fairey's new work might only last a year and a half. "I think it was perfect timing," he says.

Robert Behre may be reached at 937-5771 or by fax at 937-5579. His e-mail address is rbehre@postandcourier.com, and his mailing address is 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.