DEATH OF STREET ART?
A new mural in Hamtramck claims street art has gone mainstream, and it's causing enough controversy to show public opinion on graffiti remains divided.
The maker of the provocative piece is SEVER, an Atlanta-based graffiti artist who has a day job as a professional muralist. He's one of a cadre "writers" participating in the Detroit Beautification Project, which brought in graffiti artists from around the world to paint murals all over town.
But while SEVER's loaded, tongue-in-cheek "Death of Street Art" piece at Joseph Campau and Goodson St. -- featuring a coffin labeled "Street Art" carried by cartoon-like characters riffing on notable artists -- received accolades from graffiti fans, it rubbed several local residents the wrong way.