Times Union | Albany Parking Authority announces 8th mural: "Love Goes On"

Albany Parking Authority announces 8th mural: "Love Goes On"
British artist Nick Walker's character Vandal comes to Capital City

By Lynda Edwards, posted to Times Union on Monday, September 10, 2018

ALBANY — British artist Nick Walker, who credits New York's wildly creative 1980's graffiti taggers as a major influence, was commissioned to paint a new mural for Albany and did so over the weekend.

The Albany Parking Authority, Albany Center Gallery and Albany Barn commissioned Walker to splash his art across the Green-Hudson Parking Garage. It is the 8th mural commissioned by the #CapitalWalls program, funded by the parking authority in its effort to beautify walls in gritty, bland or sometimes no so attractive locations.

Walker started his 40 feet by 60 foot painting at noon on Saturday and finished it on Sunday with the help of Tony Iadicicco, curator of #CapitalWalls and executive director of the Albany Center Gallery.

Saturday night around 9:30 p.m. the Times Union checked in with artists.

"We're going to keep painting until about 3 a.m.," Iadicicco said at the time from his location on a lift high above the pavement. "We've got lights set up so we can see what we're doing."

Walker's mural is entitled: "Love Goes On." It features a character Walker calls the "Vandal" who often pops up in his artwork. The Vandal wears a dark suit and bowler hat, and his face is obscured. In"Love Goes On," he draws a red, jagged echocardiogram (EKG) line that he twirls into the shape of a heart.

Walker is from England, but now lives in New York City. He has works displayed in London, Paris, Dubai and New York City. He has also painted background scenery for director Stanley Kubrick's Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman film "Eyes Wide Shut." Walker has also worked with the wildly popular and mysterious British artist Banksy, who has became globally famous for guerrilla street art.

Walker was inspired by the 1980's taggers who created their art swiftly because they had to be ready to run from the police after illegally using subways, walls and wooden fences for their art. Some of those taggers were so brilliant that, like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, they became famous.

"Nick was a tagger in those days; maybe that's how he learned to work fast," Iadicicco said cheerily. "Now he's one of those artists whose talent is so respected, people pay for his work instead of calling the police."

Look for Walker's new work in Albany on the eastern-facing wall of the Hudson Street parking garage, which is located at 45 Hudson St.

See the complete article with photos here: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-Parking-Authority-announces-8th-mural-13215231.php