Public Art

When buying real estate, location is everything. The same goes for when you're defacing real estate. When a hooligan selects a wall to assault, attributes such as sightlines, daringness, and the proximity of the local police department are carefully considered. Yet all too often those details are lost when a slumming curator gives a graffiti artist the golden tap on the shoulder, requesting his presence in a gallery posthaste. This weekend, however, the Collabo Tour 07 is ushering graffiti not only onto the walls of 111 Minna, but also into the distraught alley next to the gallery. As anyone who's entered the venue through a creeping line knows, the alley is a fine choice -- for graffiti, of course, or for passing out drunk or taking a piss, but not for much else. For today's Outdoor Block Party, the Collabo crew will be presumably erecting wood or some such for live, collaborative painting (wouldn’t want art to get in the way of city-approved grime) from an impressive lineup of international artists. Contributors include Sever, Revok, Ewok, Yes 2, Bates, Esteme, Persue, Snow, Rime, Search, Totem 2, Kacao 77, and Aroe. If any of those names strike a chord -- or, better yet, if you’ve actually untangled one of them during your graffiti sojourns in questionable neighborhoods -- have a Pabst! (Pabst being the official sponsor of the Collabo Tour. At least they didn't get Scion.)

An opening reception starts at 8 p.m. on Aug. 18. The block party (with music by Language Arts Crew, Whiskey Avengers, and DJ Duserock) starts Aug. 19 at 2.
Sat., Aug. 18, 8 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 19, 2 p.m.