Super Green by Chipka
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Description
There isn’t much to distinguish the Englewood area of Chicago, unless—of course—you judge gang violence, intense drug use, prostitution, and countless store-front churches as distinguishing features. I guess, in a sense they are, and it’s ironic that an area overrun by churches would also happen to be an area overrun by gangs, or at least wannabe gangs. I suspect that Englewood will begin to change, as Chicago evolves. There are numerous historically-significant buildings in the area, including a structure I’ve come to call “the Bleak House.” It is, indeed, bleak—and obviously of historical significance. It was featured on a PBS special concerning Chicago, but I missed the segment of the show in question and cannot remember the name of the show itself. Oh well. I’m not so overly concerned with that.
Not far from the Bleak house are two walls, decorated with rather colorful and complex graffiti. I call the two pieces Sex and Hybrid as those words are embedded in the images aerosol-sprayed onto decaying brick walls. The image here is the Sex aspect of that particular diptych, and if you look carefully, you can actually find the word “sex” incorporated into the 21-Century Rococo flourishes. Though Englewood doesn’t boast very much to be proud of, I can at least say that it adds two distinct splashes of color to a part of the city largely rendered in the colors of rat-belly gray with hints of rust and green (from beer bottles, or hearty weeds growing where grass refuses to take root.)
“Sex,” as depicted here, exists on the outside wall of a junk yard, a place my father frequents when the need for scrap metal impels him to make the south-bound trip along State Street from whatever northern destination claimed the earlier part of the day. “Sex,” as depicted here, is probably the newer of the two ornate graffiti scrawls, and though I have yet to photograph “Hybrid,” I hope to make a journey of my own along State Street so that I might capture more blue companion to the image you see here.
**
Things are pretty hectic. I’ve moved from one place to another and as a result of that, things have yet to settle. I plan on moving again, by the end of this year as the area in which I am currently living makes Englewood look rich, vibrant, and economically viable. Needless to say, my time here on Renderosity might be sporadic for a time, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on things soon. As I grabbed this capture, I found myself recalling lines of dialog from The Fifth Element. Things are not super green: at least not in Englewood or Roseland, but on occasion, references to loopy dialogue do make for catchy titles.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week/weekend.
Comments (23)
flavia49
wonderful graffiti and great text!
NefariousDrO
That's a really cool piece of Graffiti art. Add to that a really good photograph that has the signs of decay and time in the building and sidewalk. Makes me think of "I am legend" and the city slowly going over to plants and wildlife. In this case it sounds like the wildlife has a distinctly human-ish aspect to it, though. Really fascinating. Hope your living situation stabilizes, it's not fun living in a high-crime area, I know all too well.
danapommet
Fantastic find and capture Chip! Cool graffiti! Great colors and haunting eyes. The word 'sex' is well disguised off to the right. Dana
blinkings
These eyes are really quite haunting.
MrsRatbag
Great capture of this street art; I hope your living situation settles into something you can live with (no pun intended!) Sounds hectic and harrowing right now, and not at all a fun way to exist.
KatesFriend
I often wonder at the talent of graffiti arts. For an art form which is sometimes regarded as upper class vandalism by some (usually refered to as 'your honour' during working hours) I would expect that its realization must be expedient. And yet the quality of work, from concept to detailing to the breadth of colours is masterful. Like it might take days or weeks to create. Perhaps it does, how often does anyone of authority or ownership venture into this place? Curious, the likeness of Super Green brings to mind David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days. Maybe it is the style of artwork which connects to the album artwork of the day.
jac204
Great capture and description.
auntietk
Bossie_Boots
Incredible capture and a good read thanks for sharing !!
beachzz
I love graffiti, though I know that's not a popular opinion. There are some places it's not appropriate, but some of it is truly amazing. Hope you can settle soon; not fun moving around from one place to another that's not much better.
CoreyBlack
Okay, now I've got Chris Tucker's Ruby Rod character stuck in my head. Are we green? As well as numerous other bits of business from "The Fifth Element". So, where's my all expense paid trip to Floston Paradise!? I think we could both use a vacation. Hey, you kept channeling Vincent Vega from "Pulp Fiction" on my post... I see you've captured all the "charm" of Englewood in this post. All that's missing are the burned out cars and police crime scene tape. And then there's the empty drug baggies, shattered bottles of Thunderbird gleaming in the sun and spent shell casings scattered on the sidewalk. Been there, done that. Funny how one ghetto looks like any other. How South Chicago looks like the South Bronx which looks like Detroit... I'll be happy when you can get the hell out of there. At least you're getting some good shots of all the carnage and desolation. This is a great mural, nicely captured. Can't wait to see "Hybrid", or any of this guy's other work. Nice work here.
helanker
I say like Marilyn, I like Graffiti and this looks awesome :-) And I bet it looks better that the wall in decay. I hope you will be settled very soon.
whaleman
Love that graffiti and the rich green!
durleybeachbum
I like that green face very much.
kgb224
I love this capture my friend. Outstanding capture and good to see you even if it is sporadic my friend. God Bless.
Orinoor
It's beautiful and so good to see you back posting.
RodS
An amazing piece of graffiti art. Excellent photo and narration, Chip! Hope things settle down for you soon - life gets hectic sometimes. I can relate...
Sepiasiren
Gorgeous graffiti art--Basquiat was a master of form but there are so many others who were just as talented if not more... The green is especially striking--not sure what message they wanted to convey about human sexuality with it (you know my stance) but beautiful nonetheless...
sandra46
astounding! it looks a hangover ...
anaber
Great photo and work of yours.Story and drama in presence and great contrasts.Significant art.Love it.
aksirp
someone decided that this town need some green.. your title fits great, picture and graffiti are so very urban and coooool! Hope you find a perfect place with ambience and space that a artist needs for living!
faroutsider
So sexy, so green. There are some stunning street artists out there...
minos_6
Interesting account of a place that's unknown to me, but I suppose all cities have such areas. Indeed, last year I was living in one, and I'm glad to have gone a little more up-market. The graffiti is excellent, with intense colours - although I can't see the green.