Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Graffiti artists give Linsanity a tribute

Jeremy Lin has been painting the city of New York orange and blue for weeks and now— in their interpretation of Linsanity— a crew of graffiti artists have spray-painted a larger-than-life size image of the New York Knicks point guard on the brick wall outside an East Village building.

Who knew a religious, Harvard-educated out-of-towner could garner such street cred in New York.



The East Second Street mural is just a couple of stops on the F-line away from his brother's Lower East Side apartment where Lin famously crashed on a couch before his phenomenal rise to stardom and fame.

In a little over two hours, Wilfredo (Bio) Feliciano and three other members of his Bronx-based Tats Cru spray-painted the image of Lin holding up a big blue earth over his head with basketball seams sewn into the globe.  He looks like the mythic Atlas in a No. 17 Knicks uniform with three pigeons in astronaut helmets circling in the celestial background.

The graffiti crew went through a dozen cans of Rustoleum during the painting of the colorful tribute.  Passersby recognized the Knicks sensation and shouted "Linsanity!" as they walked by.

The artists used a photo of Lin shouting in celebration to capture the features of his face in their portrayal of the popular player.

The mural was commissioned by online culture magazine Animalnewyork for several thousand dollars and will be up for at least a month.

"We figured Atlas was the perfect kind of symbol for this myth," said an editor at Animalnewyork.  "We've tasked him with not only carrying the Knicks, but New York City too."

Knicks fans are hoping Lin's heroics last longer than the mural.



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