The nabe’s king of sidewalk art, Ellis G., is profiled in the Village Voice this week:
Village Voice: Runnin’ Scared: As he crouched down on the Cobble Hill sidewalk, Ellis Gallagher used a piece of chalk to outline an elegant shadow cast by a streetlight. The 34-year-old artist is known in Brooklyn for his chalk outlines of mailboxes, fences, bicycles, and the like. On this October night, he was accompanied by a cameraman filming a profile of him for Channel 13′s New York Voices (online at thirteen.org/nyvoices). Soon after the camera started rolling, Gallagher received his harshest review. A cop car rolled up, and the film crew caught bits of the conversation between two officers and Gallagher:
“What’s that for?” a female officer is heard asking.
“I was going to write my name,” Gallagher responded.
“So, you were going to write your name on the pavement?”
“Yes.”
“Like graffiti?” she urged.
“No, no—I sign my pieces.”
The officers arrested him for making graffiti. When Gallagher protested, saying that he didn’t understand why he was being taken in, one of the cops told him: “We’ll make you understand when we get to the precinct.” [Full story]
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