Goodbye Blondie, Hello Bad Brains

Dec 11

Street art superstar Shepard Fairey and his crew apply spray paint to the first section of the new mural.

Street art superstar Shepard Fairey was back on Bleecker St. Dec. 11, replacing his four-year-old mural featuring Debbie Harry and Blondie with one of hardcore punk pioneers Bad Brains. The new mural, based on a 2009 Fairey work, should be completed in just a few days.

Shepard Fairey with LISA Project founders Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa, aka DR¡F.

The project was organized by The LISA Project, the 10-year-old East Village-based non-profit charity that brings world class artists and their work to the streets of Lower Manhattan and beyond.

The artist and his team were working from this image of what the final mural will look like. The mural, based on a 2009 Fairey print, will take just a few days to complete.

Fairey and his team were hard at work, applying spray paint through paper stencils to the 20-foot long piece of wall on the building that now holds a J. Crew Store at the corner of Bleeker and Bowery.

The location is significant because it is just across Bowery from the site of the venerable punk incubator CBGBs, a night club where Blondie got its start and where the Washington D.C.-based Bad Brains often played.

A print of the Blondie mural being sold to raise funds for the LISA Project and its charities. Available at https://www.lisaprojectnyc.org/newarrivals

The Blondie mural was unveiled in August 2017, replacing one of Joey Ramon. It was originally only slated to stay up for a couple of years, but because of COVID and other concerns the work stayed up until this weekend.

Formed in 1976 in D.C, Bad Brains was one of the few African American bands to participate in the punk rock revolution that took place at CBGBs. Rolling Stone magazine called them "the mother of all black hard-rock bands.”

Their influences included jazz fusion, reggae, funk, heavy metal, hip hop and soul. But they are best known for their relentless, driving hardcore sound, which influenced the next generation of punk, metal and alternative bands.

The Lisa Project has been organizing street art murals and other pojects in Lower Manhattan for 10 years under the leadership of founders Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa, aka DR¡F. The LISA Project’s mission is to bring a diverse group of artists, free art based events and activities to all boroughs and neighborhoods of New York.

More on the LISA Project can be found in this piece on UP Magazine.