Monday, February 22, 2010

OBEY

I coulda been a millionaire.

At least, that was my thought upon seeing a cultural treasure.

I walked through Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center loading dock Saturday afternoon ahead of a moonlighting gig for my friend's catering company. I passed the vehicles packed with pans of mini hamburger meat, crispy golden mac 'n cheese cubes and and other delicious bites, walking deep into the garage. Strewn about the space were coat racks, shelving with serving bowls and other random junk.

And that's when my heart skipped a beat.

Behind some tubs stocked with serving trays, cocktail napkins other catering goods, I spied two charcoal gray rubbermaid trunks, one topped with a pile of brightly colored, folded paper.

OBEY.

One of the crates was labeled, "Ship to HI." The other "Ship to NYC." The pile of brightly colored papers was topped with a paper that said "NOT CAC."

The synapses didn't have to shift in to overdrive for me to figure out that I was hanging out in a garage-cum-prep kitchen that just so happened to house a treasure trove of Shepard Fairey's work.

Woah. Heavy.

I joined my fellow servers in unpacking the van, bringing back tubs and pans to the garage. With each return trip, I'd eye that brilliant pile of swirls, patterns and graphics. My hands longed to drop the antipasto/crudités/roasted veggie wraps/whatever and rapidly leaf through the makings of a mural.

My thoughts swiftly raced to a vision of my apartment - awash in a technicolor pop-culture statement on propaganda.

It would be an apartment makeover I'd get to enjoy for, oh, five minutes or so until the cops busted me for Cincinnati's latest art heist.

Ahhh, but for one brief minute, I coulda been a millionaire.
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You can check out Shepard Fairey's Supply and Demand exhibit at the CAC through August 22.

Special thanks to Molly O'Toole of the CAC for snapping a pic of Fairey's crate for me when I discovered I was sans phone!

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1 comment:

Dave said...

bummer! I think an art heist is just what the backstage district needs! Hey, you would have been in the history books!:)