Mystery artist a spray painter, 'not a tagger'

Palmerston North's mystery artist who has painted messages of love on walls near an art gallery and the City Library is upset about his work being called graffiti.

In a letter to the Manawatu Standard, he said the only connection with graffiti was that his work was done with a spray can.

However, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes graffiti as "unauthorised writings or drawings on a surface in a public place."

Stuart Schwartz of the Taylor- Jensen Fine Arts gallery, whose walls have been targeted four times, said some of the painting had artistic merit.

He has called for the city to provide a wall where such artists can present their messages in a more controlled fashion.

Although the painter signed his letter to the Standard, Mr Schwartz said he had met him and the name didn't match the one he was given.

In his letter, the man said he was responsible for all four paintings and said he was not a tagger and did not "put up an alias bulls**t name". Nor was his work solely about himself or "what stupid crew I belong to . . ."

"The art that I produce is about a message and not about myself. It is about standing up and speaking about the things others don't want to or don't care about, or are afraid to. It is about things that matter.

"As for the lovelorn gaga, I hate that it has been perceived as that - a 'tinged heart'? No way! I ain't torn or found a new love, or heart broken, or any of that rubbish. It is about the message.

"At this time, the message I want to put out there is about love."

He said that for so long he had been saddened to see families torn apart, and husbands and wives or partners being unfaithful to each other.

"It saddens me that people live like this, but more so infuriates me because it happens. Most men are so weak and are just out there trying to impress their peers and all that bulls**t!"

The messages of love he had placed on the wall of the high-traffic area near the art gallery and the City Library were to affirm that love was about being faithful, honest and loyal, he said. This was love's true and only essence.

"It's about how your heart is for one person and one person only.

"People throw their heart around like it's nothing and [part of] a desolate, worthless life."

Men treated women poorly and had no respect for them, but women were even worse to men.

"It works both ways, but the messages I try to convey are for men. Here is what the work that I've done is about":

* Romeo and Juliet (the first painting) is about how love is eternal and true, and how it should be - faithful, honest, loyal 'til the death.

* The Hanging Heart was about how a person's heart should be for the one; how we, men especially, hang ourselves out there for the person we love; how our whole life is devoted and committed to that one person only; how we are selfless and honest in everything, and that we would die before the other person gets hurt. Sacrifice. That whatever the cost "our heart is all theirs and only theirs".

* Goodlife was about living life to the fullest and abundantly; about never living in fear about always living, not just surviving. Simple and neat.

The Poem and Faithful was also about love and how love should be.

"This [last] painting is less artistic - none at all from my point - but it's out there giving a message and ain't about mumbo jumbo gangsterism or any of that.

"It isn't about myself, a name, status or fame, but about a message and art. Whether people see it as art and a message or not, is up to them."

- © Fairfax NZ News