Naked Men

I found this new addition in Berkeley yesterday...

It reminds me of old Samurai illustrations;

Spread Anarchy!

Found this on the internet...

I don't remember being let loose with a can of blue spray paint...

a wall in Prague

Where to even start with this wall? Che Guevera? Yuri Gagarin? Russian go home? This is from a wall in Prague, a city that was ruled by a horribly oppressive communist regime for decades and for the most part the locals consider to have been devistating to Czech culture... I'm afraid I can't even comment... this wall is so perfect it seems fake.

Also... it's odd to me that it's all written in English.  Why no Czech?

Amerikanish

Found in Berlin;

The Wall, after the fall, and after the resurection...

The Berlin wall came down. It was torn down with fervor... later on people thought that it might serve some historical interest to have a small part of it up. It is still in the process of becoming a historical site with museum and all. We chose not to take the cheesy tourist shots of us "escaping" through the wall or posing with the bright blue Berlin Bear that could be seen through the holes in the wall... yes I left that to Other American tourists...

Faithless

Safe?

It appears that the ebay auction I posted about last week has been removed... perhaps a piece of paper with a name on it isn't something ebay thinks should be sold for a million dollars.

The internet (a source of all accuracies) tells us that the seller was paid off.

Hoo-ray.

Shady.

Apparently someone thinks they need to reveal the identity of one of the best street artists out there.  An ebay auction claims to have proof of knowing the identity of "Banksy".  If the artist wishes to remain anonymous and just continue to make art Why put that at jeopardy? 
The bold political statements told through cleverly thought out work is this artist's passion and gift to the thinking class.  Spray painting amazing statements on the sides of buildings is still illegal and this auction threatens to put an end to works like these.

I'm sure there are a few public officials who would love to win this auction if the name they get is the right one. Urban Heirogliph does not condone outing artists against their will.

"If you win this auction I will mail you a piece of paper revealing the true identity of "Banksy".

I have uncovered his identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records. I will reveal no more details.

The winner of this auction is the only person I will ever share this information with. The piece of paper will say his name, nothing more.

I give you 100% assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as "Banksy".

Ebay previously ended this auction because I was selling something that was not "tangible". 
It is now tangible."

I personally hope Banksy has a name like "John Smith" so that if this auction is true, it won't do the winner any good whatsoever. Screw you Ebay dude.

Venice Eyes.

Venice California is full of oddities... some are painted on walls

Oh the adorable macabre.

Street Koi

A school of Koi decided to take over a block on Post street in San Francisco...

Eggbeater Dad?

Happy Father's Day... or something.
My Dad likes to cook so I instantly thought this is an eggbeater Dad although it could just be an Eggbeater Man...

Rainbow Buffalo

This appeared on what used to be a Ritz Photo shop. It is somewhat reminiscent of Banksy (who I should write more about and will soon). Although the image is layered and politically interesting, I think that Banksy manages to capture essence of intent with less ambiguity. Banksy is a British street artist who I equate to the Beatles; all of their work is so simple and so perfect it leaves the world stunned that it's never been done before. This artist is taking on a lot in one graphic (the American Bison, the crippled military? the tie dye...) are they saying that the American military is defunct, or that the hippies are? It's intreguing... and at the very lowest explination "cool", but I'm not really sure of what's going on.

Gift Giver

What does it mean?

Hygenic Dog Food

I love this old relic of the past. The building stands all alone... and the name is so antiquated. Now we're overrun with slick advertising and clever business names that I don't think hygenicdogfood.com would ever work these days...

... but then perhaps that's why this building stands unoccupied today.

Signs of the Past

Once was a building with windows... before 1927... bricked over thereafter...

Once was a billboard of sorts, for a family business, for a plumber...

commerce before the great fall of '29,

before the fall of '08

and all the little stumbles between...

These bricks have seen marching in the streets...

possibly arrests, stolen kisses, drunk students...

Paint fades ever so slowly, overlapping itself,

waiting for the new

as the past bleaches in the sun.