Graffiti artists marring national parks
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
Andre Saraiva is an internationally known graffiti artist. He owns nightclubs in Paris and New York, works as a top editor of the men’s fashion magazine L’Officiel Hommes and has appeared in countless glossy magazines as a tastemaker and bon vivant.
Two months ago he showed up on the decidedly un-fashionista website Modern Hiker, along with a photo of a boulder he tagged in Joshua Tree National Park. Since then, Saraiva, who lives in France and is known by his fans as Mr. Andre and Mr. A., has been scorned by American nature lovers and thrust into a highly charged debate.
Saraiva is of a new generation of graffiti artists who regard nature — not just the built environment — as their canvas. They tag national parks, then post photos of their work on the Internet.
Those acts infuriate outdoor enthusiasts, many of whom are otherwise fans of graffiti art.
These are not “artists’, but simply vandals. When caught, have them clean up similarly vandalized locations on a 10:1 ratio to how many he has vandalized.
Dan. Agreed.
This is vandalism, pure and simple. That rock does not belong to him, it belongs to all of us and nature should remain nature. Fine him equivalent to four times the clean up cost and put a flag on his passport. Can you imagine if any of us did this in France, say on a “rock” like the Moses?
Paint the Eiffel Tower tan to demonstrate what a di(k with think this guy is. I was tossed in jail once in Paris because I dropped my bus ticket by mistake onto a city street. This is vandalism of MY public lands and should be punished. Dude only wants attention.
If I ever caught him in the act of tagging I’d kick his internationally known bon-vivant ass!!!!
There are two types of people in this world – builders and destroyers…and Saraiva is a destroyer. The world is full of punk hipsters who knock down other people’s sandcastles.
Put him on a no visa list, so he can never come here and deface our national treasures.
Our National Parks are meant to stand on their own. Graffiti is not appropriate. Anyone who tags in a National Park should be tarred and feathered, and be run out on a rail, as well as the more conventional punishments of spending a lot of hours cleaning the parks up. Stay away from us.
If I came across someone spray painting anything on our beautiful area rocks there would be serious consequences.
I will not put up with this! I’m an older guy but if the authorities don’t stop this, I will! I’ll cram that spray can where the sun don’t shine .OLS
Soooo, he owns a nightclub in New York, it would be a shame if his sign and building were tagged to the extreme that it was unrecognizable…..just sayin’