In a time when the youth of the nation are “Occupying Wall Street,” it should come as no surprise to see a great piece of street art, but this one is found in a place where one might least expect it.
Recently I’ve been spending quite of bit of time on Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich, CT and I route usually takes me past a gallery that features contemporary art and every time I walk by I can’t help but stop in front of the window to gaze at this original piece by Blek Le Rat:
Standing seven feet tall, this piece is hard to miss, although it may be a bit unassuming. One might marvel to think that it’s value is in the five-digit range, but when you look closer, you find a bit of history. Blek Le Rat is the godfather of street art, and has influenced the likes of Banksy, who has grown to be one of the most well-known street artists in the world. When asked about Le Rat, Banksy said that, “every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier.”
It is pretty amazing to walk past such an politically-charged piece of artwork on such a quiet street: Greenwich, CT is a town where a lot of the wealthy Manhattan-ites come to raise their families and allow their dogs to roam free in a bigger backyard. One would think that they would be in pursuit of filling their walls with quaint floral impressionist landscapes, but even if you take the New Yorker out of the City, you can’t take the City out of a New Yorker and the owner of this gallery had the brilliant idea of bringing the urban art to this rural setting. The Samuel Owen Gallery is open Monday through saturday from 10:30am to 5:30pm and Sunday from 11:00am to 3:00pm. It is open to the public for free and I encourage you to come in and explore these rare and influential modern-day art pieces.
free art events 