ALTERNATIVE ART

Asylum wall gets annual makeover

By Sonya Tomlinson

Granted, you may not find it in Maine’s guide to historic sites, but the Asylum’s graffiti wall, seen from Free Street, is unquestionably a Portland pit stop for residents and tourists alike.

This weekend, the familiar, 50-foot Seasons in the Abyss mural, named “Best Public Art” in last year’s “Best of” issue, was covered up with a thin layer of dull gray paint. But don’t worry, it was only in order to make for a clean slate.

Artists and graffiti writers quickly set up shop, contemplating their designated spaces on the wall from nearby lawn chairs while putting on their masks to avoid fume intake. Spectators stopped and watched curiously as the blank wall was transformed into a collage of rough outline sketches that by Monday, September 3, had become elaborate finished pieces.

This annual ritual has been taking place since 1997, when Asylum owners placed a classified ad seeking local muralists. This year’s contributors, all of whom were male (where are the Lady Pinks of P-town?), ranged from younger, up-and-coming painters to experienced veterans who have claimed a piece of the wall since it originated. This year’s wall, unlike last year’s, lacks a continual theme. More an eclectic montage, there is a dominant “Kilroy was here” look with the plethora of tags in elaborate fonts. Fantasy-like characters, and playful grass and mushrooms along the bottom border, ad a surreal touch to the already dimensional final product.

The Asylum wall provides the second largest approved graffiti space in Portland. Recently, the Portland Water District donated a 168-foot wall space on the East End to graffiti connoisseurs, making it the largest space to date. In cities like Boston and New York, where tagging and artists are more prevalent, and there are far more pressing criminal activities to be concerned about, taggers don’t really need to worry about anonymity. However, with Portland’s minimal population of graf writers becoming quite high-profile in a hurry, and therefore recognizable, prospects for this under-appreciated artform are slim. Places like the Asylum wall not only help solve the problem of lack of legal canvas, but also create an attraction that helps to foster hip-hop culture in Portland.