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Following the below post on 11 Spring Street, I felt it was necessary to put up this photograph of the building located just down the street. Right on the corner of Spring and Bowery sits another canvas of street artist and graffiti writers. While this building never reached the notoriety of 11 Spring Street, it’s walls have still been graced with the works of REVS, Judith Supine, WK, Shepard Fairey, the IRAK crew and many, many more. Now the majority of the building is covered in memorial graffiti for Joey Semz. Props.

It has been over a year now since NYC, nay the World lost one of the most valuable street art canvases ever to exist. For years 11 Spring Street was the equivalent of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with the works of modern day Michaelangelo’s gracing every inch of it. 11 Spring Street amplified the difference between graffiti and street art (because yes, there is a HUGE difference) and the battle and embracing between these two cultures. The walls were constantly changing and telling the stories of those putting their mark on them and tales of the city. The reason I am writing about 11 Spring so long after it has been covered in construction tarps and scaffolding, in the interim of being whitewashed and becoming multi-million dollar condo’s, is simple, I walked passed the decomposed shell of a building that was once a gorgeous piece of art, life and NYC and just missed it. This is yet another example of old and true NYC being phased out into anywhere U.S.A.

R.I.P. 11 Spring.

For more information and images check out these links:
Wooster Collective, Wooster On Spring, NY Times, Streetsy

Founded in 2003, REBEL8 is a lifestyle brand focused on the creation of high-integrity lowbrow art products with mass-appeal. Products include clothing and limited edition artist prints, in addition to a newly launched publishing arm. REBEL8 manifests a lifestyle built on community, artistic integrity, and respect.Every REBEL8 graphic is hand-illustrated by Mike Giant. Unlike most clothing graphics, which are created by digitizing the original artwork into vector format, REBEL8 graphics are exact reproductions of the original piece. No part of the original inked line is compromised in this process, lending an edge of authenticity seldom seen in today’s mass-produced market.Partners Joshy D. and Mike Giant met in the late 1990’s in San Francisco’s then bustling graffiti scene. Josh ran the popular graffiti website, HiFiArt, and Mike was one of the city’s most notorious writers. Years later, and having had some experience with a previous clothing venture, Josh approached Mike about creating a handful of t-shirt graphics. Mike agreed, and a small batch of shirts was made. Josh sold those shirts out of a messenger bag around the city, and REBEL8 was born.

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Covering numerous art genres ranging from tattoos & fine art to graffiti & commercial work, Mike Giant is a master of many trades. To put Mike’s career into words is almost impossible. As the cliche goes - “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well in the case of Mike Giant, his pictures just might be worth a million. To see Mike Giant’s work and read more about him visit: www.mikegiant.com

Oh, don’t ask him to tattoo you. He’s retired!