Famous graffiti artists Os Gemeos who recently opened their first US solo exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, are now part of a racism debate, started on Fox 25’s Facebook thread…
Their previously painted, brilliant The Giant of Boston mural on the old ventilation building in Dewey Square has been reeling in racially-charged remarks from people who have viewed the public artwork, as Steve Annear documented for the Bostinno:
A photo of the brightly-colored massive painting, which will stay up through November, was posted to Fox Boston’s Facebook page on Saturday. Within hours of the photo going up, with the tagline “This is a new mural on a Big Dig ventilation building. What does it look like to you?”, people began weighing in with their opinions.
But instead of being proud to have that great example of the worldwide well-known Os Gemeos style in their city, the majority of commentators presented their racist point of view. With comments like "[It looks like] the wife of a terrorist", “Taliban fighter” and “a tribute to [President Barack] Obama’s birthday” being some of the subtle racist opinions, some Fox 25 fans expressed themselves more directly:
A more amped-up commenter said it was “Finally a building worth crashing a plane into”. Debbi Sheilds said the painting is “a slap in the face to all those who lost someone on 9/11 & another slap in the face to our military who is over there risking there lives”. “I’m going down there tonight and painting an American flag over it”, said Jason Mendonca, before receiving 18 “likes” for his comment.
I can’t believe this and I am still quite shocked about at all these racist commentators, for what reason I would like to ask you the same question Fox 25 stated, in hopes of some more qualified answers: This is a new mural on a Big Dig ventilation building. What does it look like to you? Please write a comment and set an example against racism!
Teaser-photo via weeklydig.