Sure, Boston's Public Art is Bad, But It Doesn't Deserve This

What’s the deal with white paint these days? Back in July, a woman used this same (usually) innocuous substance to express her, uh, “dissatisfaction” with the Shaw Memorial in the Boston Common.

Fast forward to last night, when a bit of white paint was used to deface a mural in Quincy on the side of the Presidents Rock Club that brought together the seemingly incongruous visages of President Obama and everyone’s favorite Rock Hero, Jimi Hendrix. The mural brought together the words “Rock the Vote,” the Obama campaign symbol, and of course, a massive guitar:

All of this followed a bit of a tete-a-tete in Quincy about the mural as the artwork did not have the requisite permit required by the city fathers. But let’s be honest: Who cares? This is a mural on private property, not a piece in a public ark, bus station, or DMV. The owners of this club brought in an artist to do his thing and he did. At the end of the day, this is a matter of freedom of expression. It’s just a shame that someone chose to “express” themselves by tossing a gallon of flat white on the whole thing.

Sure, Boston’s public art could use a revamp as I suggest in this month’s edition of the magazine, but can’t people find some other way to make their dissatisfaction known?