Judith Supine Takes Over The Manhattan Bridge

Ok, really. Why aren't you at all excited to see that someone is proud enough to display what they do for everyone out there? A lot of people seem irritated, but, I bet it has more to do with them wishing they could get credit like that.

It makes New York more interesting and cool in that normal people can make something and put it somewhere. I applaud that. I hope to see more from a city that complains so much.

A comment for the artist, I think the placement of your art piece is enpowering in that it is looking at the "danger" sign. It gets me thinking about making up my own story about what it may be about and take something from it to reflect on my own life/society.

I'm sure all the negative people ozzing with repressed anger will want to make some comment on what I have to say. Just know that I'm commenting for the artist.

Smiles!

Judith is a girls name

this guy rules best street artist hands down

not that gothamist needs to justify themselves..but the damn new york times reports on this stuff. When that old bitch does it, then it's all fair game. Face it, this isn't cutting edge..it's mainstream. Smile and laugh and stop being pissy about people making their own version of art..or start bitching about all the really bad business signs in the city and we'll talk.

keep up the good work jake

ICF!!!

I like it, cool stuff. But definitely not even close to what Sane/Smith did by a long shot. Graffiti is dope, "street art" is cool, I like all the creativity, but these days none of it is the way it once was, purely underground, street, outlaw shit that almost noone liked except for the people doing it. That was when it was the most fun. These days a lot of art kids took it up and are doing cool shit with it, but I am definitely seeing a lot more trendy bandwagon people doing it too, who will do it for a few years while they're in school and never care about it again once they get a "real" job. Another thing is, I don't mind when people want to document their work and put some of it up online, but some people post every freakin little sticker they put up in hopes of being famous and having everyone see it. For me the fun is having someone else catch your stuff and take a photo.

i agree this had to do with the topic of things going on in new york, its a performance ,and an art. and awsome. if the city gave a shit about it theyd take down them selves, instead complaining in a forum.

to the freaking out "guests":

Please tell me you have something better to argue about than someone's art and someone else posting about it.

to Judith Supine: you rock my socks.

this rules

why the hate

"This might be the biggest development in NYC bridge graffiti since Sane/Smith tagged the outside of the Brooklyn Bridge in the late-1980s!"

I was going to dog this article but the masses have already spoken. If anything, I love your unbridled enthusiasm!

this shit was taken down in about 3 hours. nobody even saw it, they only saw the pic online. you CANNOT compare sane/smith to this. Scaleing a the side of a bridge and painting it is totally different from tossing a banner u made at home off the side...VERY DIFFERENT

Judith Supine is a great artist. He's doing provacative courageous art. I wonder how many of these people {who've made such negative comments) would take a risk as Supine has? My guess is not many of them, he seems to have touched a nerve in their shivering cowardly hearts.

It looks awesome hanging from the bridge. I wonder if any of these haters actually make art. Mr. Supine I support you 100%. I love seeing your artwork around the city . It always brightens my day. Thanks

If you see an article you don't want to read, you don't have to read it, you know. Gothamist cannot please all of you opiners! Start your own damn blogs.

PSHHHH NIGGAS WEARING A HELMET. THIS IS NOT ART AND IT IS NOT GRAFFITI. GO DOWNTOWN AND YOULL SEE A MILLION DIFF WHEAT PASTINGS OF AN ACWARDLY PUT TOGETHER CUT OUT OF A PERSON. THIS IS JUST A TREND. THIS IS JUST A TREND. THIS IS JUST A TREND. THIS IS JUST A TREND. THIS IS JUST A TREND. THIS IS JUST A TREND.

This isnt graffiti. This is street art. Stop mislabeling what these retards do.

first of all, most of the you people who comment on how disgusting and poor this art work is have to stop and just lighten up. art is all around us, in every shape and form, why is it necessary that we always have to illustrate art in the way that everyone percieves it to be, on a canvas in an exhibition...free your minds up a bit and laugh it off, its not that often that sum1 has the courage to post a 50ft piece of art work of the bridge! and try to realise what this character is actually portraying, and then maybe you will think twice about how "poor" this is. enjoy the random things in life and dont get so caught up on small things!!

be sure to take some nice photographs of this event so you can hang them in your whitney retrospective (also good for show all-important catalog)

Jesus. New Yorkers are kind of pricks, eh.

dont call this graffiti. it's non permanent and definately not vandalism. its hardly something to get worked up about.

Keep killin it--Judith rocks

KEEP WRITING ABOUT GRAF AND STREET ART! That is interesting and I for one appreciate the coverage and info! Suck it, haters!

#16:

http://gothamist.com/2006/08/13/last_day_of_dra.php

http://gothamist.com/2005/09/06/west_indian_day_parade_fans_out.php

http://gothamist.com/2007/04/25/anita_jacobs_an.php

http://gothamist.com/2007/06/25/38th_gay_pride.php

http://gothamist.com/2004/06/15/before_after.php

http://gothamist.com/2007/06/08/save_the_red_ho.php

i can't believe i just put in that much effort to defend gothamist, but, while the blog is guilty of countless other crimes against taste and journalism, whites-only hipsterism ain't one of them.

quest, thanks for letting us know about Sane. I was in HS when they did the bridge and remember it well. Didn't they get arrested. I just remember seeing SANE SMITH everywhere I went for years.

I love Judith Supine's stuff. This is amazing.

:yawn:

Well why are people angry. Does it make people uncomfortable that people do shit besides surf the internet. I suppose graffiti artists will always hate street art. And ass holes will post comments pretending to be Sane. This the type of art that makes NY NY and not Nebraska.

PEace

A real graf writer

#64 - I know they were too different people, I didn't think it was Roger though...

It seems like it was successful. Isnt street art about getting up. As much and as big as possible.Plus the image is dope. Looks kinda like photoshoped kinda unbelieveable.

#65 the Graf Expert, if you were that much of a graf expert you'd know that Sane was Smith's brother and that he still writes "Sane" (and so does Lady Pink) in memory of him.

but i wholly agree with SaneSmith although I am not a particular fan of Judith Supine's work (especially what was put on the bridge)

i think the work was a good wake up call to the possibilities of what you can do with art in NY other than stick it up in another gallery in Chelsea for stuck up art connoisseurs and rich buyers to see.

is #61 posting as if they were "SaneSmith" ? perhaps they should know that Sane and Smith are two different people, and Sane has been dead for almost two decades. And for the record, no, you absolutely can't compare this stunt to the work they've put in.

SaneSmith / David:

The reference to this kid's black socks and sneakers wasn't just a diss - it was a comment on his poor sense of style (also reflected in the drawing itself) and a reflection of other poor choices that he appears to have made.

Can we leave this stuff off the site for the rest of the month now?

----------------------------------

Pet Mug Shots Coming to a Bus Stop Near You

NOW THAT IS GREAT NYC NEWS!

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granted the "artwork" is a piece of shit but it is still awesome to see people are pushing the envelope of expression. though, this "artwork" just ruined it. i heard it was up until three (about four hours).

FWIW, I love knowing that when I hear or read about something like this elsewhere, I can turn to Gothamist to get more info.

Hah! I can't believe I got drawn into this..... I had a good laugh at that 'artwork', and that's what it was meant to do, ya fools. Make the robots think and react. We can't all be little drones approving or disapproving on every public expression just to make them valid. I love NYC and all the dirt, the filth, the silly snobs, the horn honking (not so much), graffiti (not all of it either) and everything that doesn't exist in Hicksville. If I wanted to live in a lobotomized vacuum I woulda voted for Guiliani. Hey I got an idea.... try coming outside and being a real Gothamist. Laugh at the silly street artists, breathe in that 'fresh' air and talk to your neighbor instead of ridiculing the dude with the black socks and black sneakers or what makes graffiti real graffiti. Don't worry, I inhabit the tunnels of NYC and I'll crawl out one of these days to make another footnote for you guys to discuss ad nauseum......

SaneSmith

I read Gothamist because parts of it are entertaining and even informative. I'm generally pro-Jen, bacause she is busy digging up silly and lurid stuff from the tabs. But, like I said, Jake seems lamely fixated on one thing. Prove to us that you are not lame, Jake, I dare you.

Hi,

Can you please tell me what's interesting about this?

Please tell me they took that awful thing outta there already...how tacky.

It is much more surreal and noticeable as a brightly colored collage. If it was hyper realistic what would be the point? I dont think the idea was to make people think a real person was hanging from the bridge. This is much more interesting and creative than the graffiti art I see. The piece interacts with the environment.

I give it an A.

it would have been far better if the artist made the figure look like a real person. think about that for a minute, a fifty foot person hanging from the manhattan bridge. the artist clearly doesn't know what he/she is doing and clearly doesn't think about his/her art. brains help. next time get some schooling before you fart in the public wind. it's the difference between garbage and something worth talking about. Grade: D-

I like it! Things like this make everyday life interesting and whimsical. It's nothing more than fun. People need fun. All of the advert billboards and video screens around the city are annoying... something like this is fun for fun's sake. Lighten up!

'Street Art' is not graf. Bombing trains with wildstyle is graf. 'Street Art' is the art school privileged kiddie co-opted version of something that the hood called its own.

FAIL.

Fuckin' beautiful.

The reason people get so annoyed at hipsters is because they sit around in their ironic outfits with their ironic haircuts and ironic moustaches, drinking PBR and pretending to be doing something cool and dangerous, while Mom & Dad pick up the tab.

This guy has actually done something creative, and done it in an intentionally non-destructive way. It can obviously be hauled up and disposed of in minutes, showing that the guy is not only creative, but thoughtful, two things we do not normally associate with hipsters. Notice also that he is not surrounded by a horde of snickering hipsters, but is trying to be somewhat discreet.

I don't personally like the piece of art, but I think this sort of act, which is planned to be temporary, non-destructive, and easily undone by whoever will be forced to take it down, is the best kind of public art. Graffitists, on the other hand, run the gamut from truly brilliant to jerks tagging their name dozens of times in a 10 foot section of wall. Or subway window. Or Schoolyard.

So tell me, graffiti lovers, given that the worlds of both street artists and graffitists can contain the gifted and the stupid, what's so much more "real" about graffiti? Is it just that it's done by people who you'd like to imagine yourself to be?

And to the poster above who suggested that if this guy wants to be an artist he should go through a Chelsea gallery; believe it or not, you don't need some gallerist's permission to make art.

Jake makes bank is what he does.

Haha loving this.

Thanks for the laugh/smile.

Also a thanks to those that had a whinge about it.. amusing read. =]

TC from Aust.

What's next ? Hanging a piece from the tail of a Boeing 747 ! Dumb-ass !!! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"

It says I love NY on the shirt.

I agree real guerrilla art and more creative than the typical street art or political propoganda. Plus it takes balls to do something this huge on the bridge.

Looking good! This is a great example of guerilla-style public art.

PS: I love how the guest color is barely legible. Can you make it even lighter?

Trolling hateful bastards.

@ #36: LMFAO!!!

bklynd, the publisher traditionally deals with the business aspects of a publication. I don't know Jake, but I assume his main role is to work on Gothamist's profitability rather than write content.

yo I heard that mother fucker has a 15 teen foot penis

Peace Love the pedro

#37(!), why are you defending gothamist?

#36, why are you defending gothamist?

#16 has it dead on.

lame

#35

so why are you reading gothamist?

Sweet! Nice bomb.

I do think it is lame that this is virtually the ONLY subject Jake ever covers. How is it that he is the "publisher" of Gothamist? What does he actually do?

On second thought, maybe Gothamist should keep reporting on things like this. I'll tell you now, the next time something like this is reported, I'll go out there as soon as I can and cut it down myself. And what's wrong with that? If a member of the so-called "street art" movement believes he has the God-given right to impress his "artistic" sensibilities upon us, then I have the same right, except my sensibility is to get rid of it. It's a free country, right? So go ahead, Jake, tell me where the next one is as soon as it's put up! Hey, when it splashes down in the river, would that make me a splasher? And maybe I'll get somebody to take pictures of me cutting it down then obscure my face. Would Gothamist be willing to publish those action shots even though it's "newsworthy" and happened in NYC? I doubt it.

"Our sources on the Manhattan Bridge report..." Bullshit, Jake. You had no sources except the jerk putting up the piece of shit and the other jerk photographing him.

Jen Chung, it's obvious how this is attached. Two thin ropes tied to the top of the chainlink fence then the piece (of shit) was thrown over the fence. YOu can see the ropes if you look closely at the pics.

everybody knows that Gothamist is just a big incestous group of hipsters that circle Jerk. This Judith Supine is obviously butt buddies with Jake Dobkin. It's like 'YO! Jake, I'm gonna do some attention whoring street art that talks to my inner being YO!" and Jake's like "alright Yo! Take some pictures Yo! and I'll put them up on gothamist Yo! They'll be blogging about this for days Yo!"

sane smith was on the brooklyn bridge

sace year was on the brooklyn bridge

comparing this to sane & smith, JA, cope, anybody who been the graffiti game knows this crap isnt "street" art!!!

king of graffiti has spoken!

this is definitely newsworthy

mr supine is the man. you dont see a fifty foot piece of art hanging from a bridge every day. graff and street artists constantly challenge our perspective on public space. or at least question our notions as to what is correct and what isnt. advertisement isnt the only establishment that has a say.

6:21, Gothamist is privately owned. That it takes advertisements and has sites in several cities doesn't alter that fact.

While your point that Gothamist could write about a more diverse set of activities is valid (I would love to see more coverage of classical music and opera, for example), there's only a finite number of people writing for Gothamist and they are going to write about what they know.

If you want Gothamist to cover other activities, by all means leave a tip, link or photo in the Gothamist Contribute section. I've done so and they have sometimes mentioned those stories. Press releases or insider info is probably also welcome if sent to the correct editor. Finally, if you've got some insight into underrepresented stories, or a unique perspective on the NY art/music scene why not see if you can become a Gothamist writer?

Finally, your implication that Gothamist appeals to a tiny slice of New York is prima facie ridiculous. Look at today's stories: weddings in the Times, Coney Island redevelopment, sushi bar on 49th St., review of an off-broadway play, story about breastfeeding, carbon monoxide poisoning in Jamaica Bay, Mayor B. getting jury duty, Queens bus driver beating rude passenger, drunk driver in Queens, disappearing marshlands, and, yes, one story on a graffiti artist -the first graffiti-related post in days, if not weeks.

I agree with much of what 6:21 said, but "an historic" is kinda showy - "a historic" is better.

It's not a 'private blog'. Private blogs don't take large-scale advertising from major corporations. They aren't part of chains.

Not liking stocks in a newspaper is simply a matter of not being interested, but stock info gives information about other things in the paper. If a newspaper only printed things about the people it knew, however, it would have no buyers.

If I make a blog called 'Graffiti Central', people know what to expect. The same with real private blogs like 'Cute Overload'. But this blog is called 'Gothamist'. New York City is made up of more than white graffiti artists, the tiny section of Brooklyn called Williamsburg, the small number of clubbers on the Lower East Side, and artists whose work is shown mostly by being splattered on buildings. I actually don't have any objection to such articles. I have an objection to there not being much more than that, particularly on a site that is claiming to highlight what may be the most ethnically diverse, arts-oriented city on the face of the earth. Do you honestly think that the only people who produce edgy art in NYC live in Williamsburg? Do you really think that the only musicians playing interesting music are in alternative bands that play the Hiro Ballroom? Last year when the Drop Dead Festival (which was three days long, had acts from all over the US, and had gothabilly, neo-punk and guests who flew in from Europe to attend) was at the Knitting Factory, there was nary a mention. There's no mention of colleges (NYC is a major college town) other than Columbia and NYU- do you really think those are the only schools where something is happening? And as for Columbia, the papers have mentioned how Harlem residents are not happy with the Columbia expansion- but here there's almost nothing but cheerleading for Columbia, which is destroying an historic community so that kids from West Buttfuck can come here and see themselves as cool and edgy.

He has black socks with sneakers and shorts - ha!

this works, and is interesting enough for the quick read. as far as all the other new york news. isn't that what, ny1, and the local rags are for? seems weird to complain about what's free imo.

The photo has already been provided to the NYPD, who between photo recognition software and surveillance cameras on the bridge will nail this clown.

It makes me happy that their are people doing this type of shit. Seems like an idea someone had while stoned and actually followed through with. Who is Sane Smith?

looks pretty amazing hanging from the bridge. i wonder if this guy got arrested

that "art" piece is fucking retarded. It's ugly and looks like it was drawn in a highschool art class.

couldn't candle*

Comparing this to Smith/Sane's work is the most laughable thing I've read in a while. This coulden't hold a caddle to their work!

Anyone forget this is a private blog? Gothamist can post whatever they want to- your not paying them. If you don't like it, scroll your lazy ass down to the next article. If you are one of the many people that embrace street art, read it. Simple? Well, maybe for some people.

If any of the lesser IQ's here need a better analogy, how about a newspaper. I don't give a flying f%ck about stocks, but guess what, they are there anyway. In the business section no doubt. But do I go and complain to the newspaper for posting stocks? No. I wonder how much it would cost to print personalized NY Times' for all 8 million in this city. Do the math and get back to me.

Meanwhile, in other news, the Dragon Boat Festival was in Queens this weekend, and hundreds of people attended.

Graffiti is one of the many things that happens in New York. But so what? There are events every weekend that attract hundreds of people, and most of them get ignored here because they aren't run by white hipsters who take pictures of their own antics. There are entire galleries filled with art that appeals to people willing to show the love by visiting it, as opposed to being forced to see some ugly thing flung over the side of a bridge- and those galleries are in all five boroughs. Many of those artists are people of color. Is the work of artists who are doing truly innovative work in a variety of media less newsworthy than something that is obviously a publicity stunt?

I'll believe that Gothamist is really about Gotham when I see extensive photos of the Caribbean Day parade, the Brooklyn Cherry Blossom Festival, Gay Pride events, the JVC Jazz Festival, and so on. When I see events at the Museum of Chinese in America or the The Studio Museum in Harlem being posted, I'll be impressed. Even an interview with the Latino ballfield vendors who are in danger of being kicked out would be great. Because this supposedly classless, non-racist world that hipsters have created has precious few people of color in it. I'd even say it has precious few real Gothamists (native New Yorkers) in it.

Why do I read Gothamist? Because sometimes there are good reviews of restaurants. Sometimes there are stories like the one about the steampipe explosion. Occasionally an interesting museum exhibit or lecture will be mentioned. But to my mind, most of it is bollocks, considering that every kind of music and art can be found in this city, and pretty much all of them are ignored in favor of crap produced by twits.

Beautiful. One the hundreds of reasons why I love living in New York City is public art like this. Thanks for sharing.

This blog is about the happenings & going ons in NYC. This event fits into that catagory, so y'all need to stop hatin' or dont't read it to begin with

Yes, it is a New York blog but there are 8 million people here and about 8 million other more interesting things going on besides lame "art". How about Hillary Clinton's saying that taking lobbyist money is ok because they're just people too.

Apples and oranges. This is not in the same universe as what Smith and Sane did. It's a cool idea, and has creative and artistic merit, but throwing art over the side of a bridge from the public walkway at noon on a Sunday is not comparable with Smith and Sane painting the Brooklyn Bridge. I imagine Judith Supine would agree, too. His work can stand on its own merit. It's simply different.

If you want to talk about bridge graffiti in the last decade, look up JA, SI, LES et. al:

http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/bestof/2004/detail.php?id=4068

#5 & #7,

So I'm not allowed to make a comment that differs from yours? Wow you must really have some great discussions with your group of sychophants ... er I mean friends. To paraphrase #7:

"y'all need to stop [telling me I don't have a right to air my opinion in a F*%^ING COMMENT column] or don't [post here]"

There fixed that for you.

Sheesh, and you're probably someone who would fight to defend your right to free speech. Hyprocrite.

Personally, I think that it's a fun news item, and I guess it is a part of what makes NYC, NYC. But that saaid, I think the event itself a stupid exercise, a not particularly creative effort, and a silly way to try and get attention. If the artist is that talented let them work their way into the Chelsea galleries without resorting to such inane (and illegal) tactics.

Sane and Smith were true hip hoppers, had been writing Grafitti all their lives, this kid is an art fag following the herds of overaged wannabes, there was no risk at all in what he did, Smith/Sane stood on the outer rim of the Brooklyn Bridge with no nets, these are not comparable.

re: #5 and #7--I don't think its pretentious to complain about coverage of graffiti. This blog is indeed about goings-on, etc in NYC, and many people just happen to agree that graffiti simply doesn't merit coverage compared to the hosts of more important/interesting things happening in the city. If anything is pretentious, its these vandals who pose as artists and force feed their ugly crap on the rest of us.

And this proves once again that "street artists" are nothing but attention whores, despite all their claims that they're "enlightening" all us poor, benighted, unwashed masses. Notice how they documented the whole process. It's not about the work. It's about them.

So, if Jake's going to post this crap here, why in the name of Peter Stuyvesant did he ever start up Streetsy?

This might be the biggest development in NYC bridge graffiti since Sane/Smith tagged the outside of the Brooklyn Bridge in the late-1980s!

Defacing a 100 year old landmark. What an asshole.

#5 great point. people here act like their shit doesn't stink.

How exactly is the piece attached/secured?

This blog is about the happenings & going ons in NYC. This event fits into that catagory, so y'all need to stop hatin' or dont't read it to begin with

More retarded hipster crap. Don't they have anything better to do? How stupid looking is that thing?

ammmmmmen. grown people with nothing better to do than hang an over-sized 4th grade art project from a bridge? not news.

if this was boston, the cops would have blowed this up right now. 'dunno bout you, but this looks like it could be terorizm to me.

"This might be the biggest development in NYC bridge graffiti..."

What a bunch of crapola. I knew we had a good thing going when it had been several weeks without Gothamist turning into a graffiti blog -- too bad we have to reset the clock again now.

Can we leave this stuff off the site for the rest of the month now?