Graffiti artist Chris Devins spent six hours painting a mural of Eminem in Detroit’s Cass Corridor – to learn that it was defaced a day after it went up.
Chicago based artist was visiting family for a Labor Day and decided to add colour and meaning to a blind wall that “was not going to see any other action”. This work was not commissioned or approved by Marshall, it was purely an art project. Chris just deeply involved in street art, and his murals pop on the walls across the US, often depicting pop figures and rappers. Including the King Von mural in Chicago commissioned by King Von’s management company.
Reportedly, nobody had any issues with the mural while the artist worked on it last Saturday, people were cheering him and taking photos.
For this one, Chris Devins chose a picture of Eminem as Pinhead, taken by photographer Nitin Vadukul. The pins did not make it to the wall, though.
However, Monday morning, Chris learned that his work was vandalised. Frustrated, he reacted on his Instagram:
Only one day after its completion, some idiot in Detroit already defaced the new M mural. You can’t give some people anything good. Dumb. 🤣 I can probably fix it but damn….
Talking to The Detroit News, the artist called 16 small uniformed graffiti that now cover Eminem face “disrespectful”. Devins admitted that it was a hard blow to him, but he is determined to come back to Detroit and restore the mural to its former glory:
I felt terrible. I was devastated. Who would do that? That’s against the rules of street art. I want to restore it to its original value. I would like to re-present it to the community in its unblemished form.
I didn’t put up anything ugly. There was time and effort spent to make sure it was something people would want and to make it relatable to the community. It’s not just usual tagging.
Chris has dome Eminem mural out of love to hip hop, it was a pure artistic expression of admiration and respect. Hopefully, he knows that many more people share this sentiment and support his art.
