Street art celebrating whistleblowers

An anonymous artist's portrait of Edward Snowden, next to a Borf sticker. Photo by RJ Rushmore.
An anonymous artist’s portrait of Edward Snowden, next to a Borf sticker. Photo by RJ Rushmore.

It’s been quite a year for whistleblowers. In the last six months or so, the information that Edward Snowden leaked has changed the world, but Snowden is still hiding in Russia, hoping that some country will grant him permanent asylum and a way to get there. Meanwhile, Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower behind what became the Collateral Murder video and so many other documents released through Wikileaks, was sentenced in August to serve 35 years in a military prison. And just a few days ago, the email of a US government whistleblower was hacked and documents essential to his case were deleted. With the US government taking such a harsh stance against whistleblowers, it is even more essential that we, the people, stand up to support them. With that in mind, I’ve started Whistleblower Art, a tumblr archive of art and design celebrating whistleblowers. Last July, I collected all the Snowden-related street art I could find for a post. Whistleblower Art expands on that post to include all whistleblowers (most notably Manning at this point) and art and design beyond just street art.

For Vandalog though, I’ve put together this update on my Snowden post: Pretty much all the street art, graffiti and murals I could find in support of whistleblowers.

DROID 907, SARZ TKG and AMANDA WONG in Atlanta, GA. Photo by SARZ TKG.
DROID 907, SARZ TKG and AMANDA WONG in Atlanta, GA. Photo by SARZ TKG.
Daniel Ellsberg by Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos outside of Lyon, France. Photo by Abode of Chaos.
Daniel Ellsberg by Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos outside of Lyon, France. Photo by Abode of Chaos.

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Banksy + 5: October 15th

Banksy in Tribeca. Photo from banksyny.com
Banksy in Tribeca. Photo from banksyny.com.

Update: As the New York Post notes (even though they reference the unverified and likely-fake Banksy twitter account), one interesting thing about this piece is the question of how long it will last before being vandalized.

For today’s Better Out Than In piece, Banksy has made a sort of 9/11 tribute or memorial. I suppose it’s interesting that Banksy is using a flower both as a memorial and to show an explosion, but I’m still not sure about this piece. Sidenote: Banksy has previously made at least two pieces referencing 9/11. And Gothamist reports that Banksy may have made two of this piece. There’s another similar stencil but sans-flower in Brooklyn Heights.

And for today’s + 5, there’s work by TrustoCorp (which is Banksy-themed, thanks to ANIMAL for the tip and the video), Kid Hazo (thanks to Streets Dept for the tip), Pablo Delgado, Poster Boy in collaboration with Bamn (referencing Rene Mederos) and one unknown artist edit: .frA*:

Kid Hazo. Photo by Kid Hazo.
Kid Hazo in Philadelphia. Photo by Kid Hazo.
Pablo Delgado. Photo by Boring Lovechild.
Pablo Delgado. Photo by Boring Lovechild.
Poster Boy and Bamn in Cuba. Photo by Poster Boy.
Poster Boy and Bamn in Cuba. Photo by Poster Boy.
Unknown artist in Berlin. Photo by duncan c.
.frA* in Berlin. Photo by duncan c.

Photos by Kid Hazo, Boring Lovechild, Poster Boy and duncan c and from banksyny.com

BAMN!

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Although Bamn‘s works are often iconic pieces of the New York street art and graffiti landscape, he doesn’t seem to get too much attention online. We’ve only mentioned him twice, for his portraits of Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning. There aren’t too many street artists making such prominent and political artwork. I think a lot of artists could take a cue from Bamn and use the streets to get the truth out there. Here are a few pieces he’s done, both recent and a bit older:

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Titled “Pissing Contest” of course

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The surpisingly rare street art featuring Edward Snowden

Portrait by (I think) Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos. Photo by Thierry Ehrmann.
Portrait by (I think) Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos. Photo by Thierry Ehrmann.

There’s been surprisingly little street art or graffiti about Edward Snowden, the patriot who leaked information to the press about the NSA’s massive internet spying programs. I would think that street artists would jump at the chance to make art in solidarity with Snowden, but so far that hasn’t been the case. The two pieces here by Thierry Ehrmann aren’t even on the street in the sense of being placed in truly public view, they are in his outdoor museum Abode of Chaos. I also found work by PosterBoy, Bamn and Eclair Acuda Bandersnatch. There was also this projection in Berlin, but I guess I’m looking more specifically for street artists who are taking up the cause.

PosterBoy
PosterBoy. Photo by PosterBoy.
Eclair Acuda Bandersnatch
Eclair Acuda Bandersnatch. Photo by Steve Rhodes.
Bamn. Photo by Jamie NYC.
Bamn. Photo by Jamie NYC.
Portrait by (I think) Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos. Photo by Thierry Ehrmann.
Portrait by (I think) Thierry Ehrmann at the Abode of Chaos. Photo by Thierry Ehrmann.

This is what I’ve been able to find so far. If you know of more Snowden-related street art or graffiti, please let me know in the comments section of this post.

Photos by Steve Rhodes, Jamie NYC, Thierry Ehrmann and PosterBoy