Critical Mask: COVID-19 Graffiti Goes Viral

Making A Short Story Long

“Coronavirus”… a name that long needs a wall of proportionate length to best display its eleven letters. Of course, additional wall real estate offers an opportunity to express what we all really feel about this life-altering (and in far too many cases, life-ending) plague… you can see that spelled out, shy one letter, right here. (image via duncan c)

Viral Networking

This is not the mixed media you were looking for, but props to the artist for a clever take on the times we’re living through, expressed via a dead language: Latin. The text translates to “In the center of the virus”, which pretty much describes northern Italy after COVID-19 gained its first terrifying foothold in western Europe. (image via tortuga767)

The Paper Chase

Stencils and stickers play an important role in graffiti culture, and stickers in particular are often more effective than more artful venues when a strong yet simple message needs to be communicated. Zooming in on the above sticker we find it’s sponsored by the La Stella Nera, Pizza-Kollektiv restaurant in Berlin. One might think German diners aren’t amenable to sharing even a square. (image via Mitch Altman)

Breathtaking

Face masks are viewed by some as a fashion accessory, others view the recently ubiquitous (and in some places, de riguer) covering to be a political statement. Why not both? Why bother – face masks don’t have to look pretty, they just have to block incoming or outgoing pathogens. Putting politics above public health risks negating the prime function of face masks: stopping the virus like a concrete wall… much like the strikingly decorated wall above, painted in Pershing, Texas, near the end of April 2020. (image via Ampersand72)

Liberate Liberty!

“Give me liberty or give me death”… careful what you wish for, all ye protesting Patrick Henry wannabes out there! Better yet, take a leaf from Lady Liberty’s book – in this case, swapped for a box of latex gloves – and live free to protest another, safer, day. The sticker above was affixed to a roadside traffic light switchbox in West Side Midtown Manhattan during late March of 2020 but the message still rings out like a certain cracked bell from Philly. Oh, and you can order up this eclectic artistic pandemic image in sticker, print and t-shirt formats at the Raddington Falls online shop. No bleach required. (image via Brecht Bug)

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