Earlier this year in Feburary, drunken Japanese contemporary artist Yoshimoto Nara was arrested for drawing a smiley face on the wall of the First Avenue L-train stop with a marker in the wee hours of the morning. After spending the night in jail, the 49 year old was given an adjournment in contemplation after being charged with making graffiti and criminal mischief. As a part of his plea, he was to stay out of trouble and from being arrested by cops for 6 months, something which he did with ease living back in Japan. As a result the charges that had been brought against him are now officially dropped.
“This case in now officially over,” said his lawyer, Guy Oksenhendler. “He can get back to wowing the art world with his great art.” The incident happened on the eve of the opening for an exhibit of his work at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea. The 49-year-old, who lives in Tochigi, Japan, called the arrest “a nice experience in my life,” in which he got to meet people he would not otherwise have encountered. “Like in the movies,” he told Art in America magazine.
The always cash-strapped Transit Authority missed an opportunity to make some money off the incident – their efficient employees wiped the graffiti off the wall. It’s been estimated the brick it was on could have been sold for an estimated $10,000.
The more art-savvy owner of Niagra Bar down on Avenue A and 7th street on the otherhand, recognized Nara’s graffiti artwork (said to have been done earlier on the same night). And instead knew to cherish it by placing a protective plexiglass over it.
Info: New York Post via Designboom
